Editorial

 |  December 27, 2011

Is this the beginning of the end?

End of world scenarios have haunted and entertained us for centuries. Hedonistic bucket lists elbow one another for ‘ultimate’ titles on the internet. Cult leaders stuff offshore accounts with donations desperately made to secure those cushy afterlives, as do gooders over-filleth their cups with karma credits. Magazines such as ours get great mileage by sensationalising and making catchy sound bites out of the matter, and at the end of the day it is always good fun to imagine that unimaginable…what would we do if we knew the world were about to end.

But should the question in fact be who would we be, not what would we do? Would we be completely self-indulgent, having Bacchus-styled orgies, robbing banks to buy super yachts and fast cars? Would we seek spiritual support, turning towards higher powers to guide us towards our afterlife expectations? Would we reach out to help strangers in need, realising that group death is surely the greatest equaliser? Would we do our damnest to fight what may be the inevitable, pooling our not-inconsiderable human resources and intellect? Would we just carry on with a snort, and a ‘nonsense’? Who knows?

Personally, I am of the snort variety. I have never quite managed to bring myself to believe in anything supernatural or unexplainable by common sense and science. But I certainly don’t have the ego to assume that I am right. It’s all quite intriguing to think about, nonetheless.

But the reality is that life does go on. Not for all of us, well, not for any of us I suppose, but it goes on despite the end of us. It makes our orgiastic fantasies, our personal relationships with deities, our credit cards and our desires pretty inconsequential. If it all boils down to nothing then what? Some see a world without reason or hope for an afterlife bleak. I see it as beautiful. It is our moment right now to be who we are; not buy what we want, do who we want or go where we want! Which brings me to my question as to who I am?

I am going to think about this for a while and maybe I will have my own answer to give you as to who I am this time next year…if we are still around, that is.

Whatever 2012 brings, I wish it brings you deep happiness, health, security, love and, oh hell, I may as well throw it in, prosperity.

Citylife this month:
It is an eclectic read this month. But firstly let me introduce you to our spanking new Deputy Editor Grace Robinson, another editor from Yorkshire! She will be replacing James Austin Farrell at Citylife. Though James will still be contributing, he is currently working on an exciting new project which we will tell you about in a few months. I just want to thank James for his invaluable contributions over the years. Love him or not, you have got to be pretty intrigued by the way he thinks and expresses himself, he has been a wonderful asset to Citylife and while we are looking forward to Grace’s contributions, he will be missed.

So, go ahead, dig in and read all about random places of worship beyond Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai’s chefs’ choices for their last supper, Citylife’s fun bucket list as well as interviews with the Lord Mayor as well as the Director of the National Anti Corruption Commission (Chiang Mai).

In case you are wondering about the photo on this page. Our staff thought it would be fun to do a Last Day at Work themed take on The Last Supper…Well, we had fun!