Back Again

I found my old blog by accident. I forgot all about it. Apparently I have to pay a subscription fee to be able to access the same features that used to be free. Maybe that's why I stopped blogging. I've been using instagram as a blog for a few years now. So it's been almost a decade since I last logged in here. What can I update you with?

There's a little bit too much to say. I split up with the boyfriend I was blogging about last. He was a lovely guy, but it ran its course. I found a little studio flat in the centre of town and lived by myself for a year. That was a really nice experience. While I was there I met a new guy and started a whole new chapter. We moved to Weymouth in 2021. It will have been 4 years in August. The time has passed quickly.

I turned 40 last year. I don't feel any older than when I was 30, but I feel frustrated that I could have done more with my time. The state of the world hasn't gotten any better, and I'm increasingly aware of the scale of the problem. 10 years ago I was just coming to terms with the impact of animal agriculture and environmental damage. Now I know that it's not just plastic bottles and beef that we have to worry about. The entire global economic system is in self-destruct. We cant't just "ethical consumerism" our way out of this. Boycotts do have an impact, but the scale of change required is total revolution.

I wish I'd known what I know now 20 years ago. I did have a vague idea of it back then, but it was all a bit too much for me then. If I had a head start with a good education in my first 20 years... well I guess now it's my responsibility to provide that to the younger generation. To try and offer some guidance, or be an example. I'm not a perfect role model, I don't know it all, but I really want the world to be a better place for everyone.

I started volunteering to help the homeless (or neighbours without secure housing) in 2022. I don't do much really, just make cups of tea and coffee for people. The situtaion with housing is only getting worse and we need to pull together and help each other.

When news of a "migrant barge" came to Weymouth, I was desperate to do whatever I could to help people. The whole idea of using a barge as temporary housing for people who had claimed asylum in the UK was just horrific. I got to know a lot of the guys who were forced to live on that barge, and I felt it was such an honour and a privilege to hear their stories. Difficult journeys to escape violent persecution. People from all over the world. People who were desperate to make a better life for themselves. Brave and resilient people.

When our town was leafleted with Far Right propaganda about the "Great Replacement" we knew we were in danger. This white supremacist crap was spreading like a virus. I havn't even mentioned COVID yet. 2020 was completely crazy.

Now in 2025 there is a persistent sense of dread. I spend so much time just crying about genocides, war crimes, torture, horrible stuff happening all the time. At the same time I know it's incredibly important to cling on to hope for the future. I try to imagine what a better world looks like and how we can get there. I ask other people to imagine it too, and believe that it's possible.