Hello dear readers,
Thank you for stopping by my blog today, from wherever in the world you are. I’m here writing from my home in Colchester, Essex, England, but my heart is scattered across continents.
While I watch my home country descend into chaos and authoritarianism under Trump’s stolen power, England is drowning in strategically engineered xenophobia, under the guidance of the ironically named Reform party. Everywhere I look there’s a fight, fear for the future and uncertainty. It’s not how most of us would choose to live, if we were ever given the choice in the first place.
I hear so much whining from people who believe their quality of life is degraded by the proximity of people who are somehow different from them. The very people who use woke as an insult and make fun of snowflakes think they’ve been so hard done by that now they get to decide the terms that the rest of us have to live by. The colonisers of the world want you to get off their lawn. And all I can think is that none of these people have ever suffered real hardship. They don’t know what it looks like so they’ve remade it in their own image. Nationalism and white supremacy are manifestations of the quagmire of self-pity their adherents wallow in. It’s ugly and it stains.
If I look too far into the horizon, at global events I have no influence over, I’ll become lost in despair. Instead I try to remain focused on the most immediate world around me. I cast my eyes around to see how I can be of use where I am, how I can lighten the burden for the loved ones in my life. I write for myself and anyone who might relate. I nurture my son, the apple of my eye who didn’t fall far from the family tree. I work to shore him up, to help make him as strong as possible to face the coming decades, because it isn’t an easy world we’re handing over to the next generation. It’s not all doom and gloom, but its enough doom and gloom to cast a mighty shadow and merit mention.
I’d be curious to know how you’re feeling and also taking action in light of our current political climate. If you care to share, please leave a comment. I don’t have any magic words or tidy summaries to offer, only my honest emotions.
Wishing you all the best,
Erin
"And all I can think is that none of these people have ever suffered real hardship. They don’t know what it looks like so they’ve remade it in their own image."
My quote of the year so far...