How to Improve Britain #1: A Day of Darkness

Over the past months, my view of Britain has become somewhat more optimistic (as has my view of most things). I've seen some of the nicer places within the country and found some of the more impressive things it has to offer. However, there is still room for improvement.

I wanted to write about this room and thought I could start with something political like the country's view on immigration or something poignant like the flaws within the British press but then I realised there was something far more important which could make this a drastically better country. Here it is...

A Day of Darkness

The last few winters have supplied us with a fair amount of snow. Yet, despite the appearance of one of my Top 5 Happy Things and the ability to wear fingerless gloves, the British winter is still a miserable occurrence.

While I wrote this I sat in a second floor classroom (for the record, I should have been learning about how the inc- prefix works in shorthand) and looked out over a tree filled skyline. Unusually, the sun shone brightly and elegantly glowed upon the beautiful brown colours of the leaves. It was unreasonably depressing.

Even snow looks cooler in the Day of Darkness.

It was depressing because I knew by the time I got out of there, the only light available would be from dim, orange lampposts. On top of this, when I eventually made it back to my sleepy village, there wouldn't even be lampposts to light the cold streets. All this and I'm not even sure if it is technically winter yet.

It may be unreasonable to ask for evenings which are illuminated by drawn out sunsets until eleven pm all year round so, instead, picture something a little more dramatic in the depths of our winters.

Imagine the days closing in a bit more and giving us just one day of complete, all encompassing darkness. A day where everything was moonlit throughout and it felt not just okay, but obligatory, to achieve nothing other than a sense of enchantment. This day would give our winter something other than Christmas, New Year's Eve and snow to be carried by as temperatures drop.

Halloween could finally be as scary as it is in Buffy.

Envision being eight years old again and reaching the one day of the year when no sun light touches your life (without the help of the moon). Halloween wouldn't stand a chance of matching up to the magical feeling of that day and, obviously, the holiday would be moved to this Day of Darkness.

As you got older the day may mean a bit less and the magic may disperse but, in the right situation, with the right friends, great fun could still be had. Parties, picnics, a day of random games in the dark, it would be amazing to be able to waste a day away and not notice time passing. To just enjoy yourself and have normal life suspended by the lack of morning.

The day would have to be a public holiday for some reason or another. Maybe people couldn't work in the dark or maybe there would be some kind of religious reason. However it happened, the day would need to be celebrated with a total lack of work.

TV would be full of horror movie marathons stretching all through the day, with some more family friendly options thrown in for good measure.

Finally, every year, an over the top event, with disappointing celebrities and too many sponsors, would be put on. After a few years, even though it wouldn't have ever been any good, people will talk about how it has become so much as they have matured.

By the time you've grown up and had a family the Day of Darkness could have become nothing more than a forced, oversold, gimmick of a day when you have to put in a lot of effort to keep your kids happy. However, if you have managed to stay young at heart there would still be something special in the day. It could be a chance to remember how much you had enjoyed this day decades ago or a chance to forget about the responsibilities the world has pushed onto you and just have fun with the people you love.

The correct use of candles will make all bedrooms look like this.

Obviously there is no one who can make this day occur (as far as I am aware) but I still think it would help. To be honest, I just think the country needs a little more magic, something to look forward to in the cold of winter and a chance to feel young again once the years attempt to take away our youth and innocence.

So, what do you think of the Day of Darkness as a way to improve Britain?

P.S. The candle industry would boom. Who would want to use electricity on the Day of Darkness?