2018: What a glorious time to be alive despite the darkness

What did Darwin, Dickens, Monet, Bronte and Van Gogh all have in common?

Well, they all had the chance to listen to the music of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven and see a play by Shakespeare and see a painting by Rembrandt.

I feel even luckier to have been born this end of history’s timeline when we have antibiotics, classics at our fingertips, refrigeration and on and on.

Poor Michelangelo and Leonardo; they never got to see a plane fly or hear a note of Bach or ride a bullet train.

From where we sit today in 2018, we have such a rich and spectacular banquet of art and science, music and literature on which to feast.

I love Van Eyck, Bernini, Durer and  Bruegel, but how fabulous to have also been able to enjoy Puccini, Dylan, Picasso, Turner, The Beatles and on and on.

Could there be a better time to be alive, even with all that we know to be dark and sad.

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