What a strange world we live in… from far off wars we didn’t start but impact on our every day lives, to joyous birthday celebrations for one of the greatest Britons ever, to a seemingly dramatic rise in right-wing popularism… not sure if it’s just me but it can all feel a bit overwhelming at times!
Yesterday (8th May) was Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. The man who has not only brought us over 100 wildlife and nature documentaries on the telly (the first of which, Zoo Quest, was first aired the year Pete was born in 1954!) but without whom, we may never have got to see & know the Month Python crowd… just think for a minute of a world without the Life of Brian in it! 🤣🤣🤣 You know, Brian – the babe they called Brian… And then of course, we wouldn’t have had the “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” song either (available in the foyer… 🤣) – Happy Birthday Sir David!
We have been preparing for our trip to Spain this week which of course included a holiday haircut for me! Pete’s hair, not that he had much before anyway, hasn’t really grown back after chemo – he rarely even has to shave now! My lovely locks (🤣) need a regular trim and this time, as I hope it will be hot in Spain, I decided to get about 3 inches cut off… the grey is certainly starting to show through now after my decision to embrace it rather than colour it! And yes, I am looking more like my mother every day 😢🤣🤣! Also, am sure my nose never used to be that big…?! 🤣 What’s that about??!
I didn’t do my civic duty this week visiting the polling station yesterday but, before any women’s rights activists amongst you start banging their drum, that was because I sent off my postal vote about 2-weeks ago!
Whilst I am sure that many might guess my political allegiance, it’s not something, unlike many on social media, I choose to share here. What I will say is, whilst I might personally find the rise of parties like Reform UK disturbing, at the same time, I find the same rise fascinating and the psychology behind such a ground-swell of opinion intriguing.
I wonder… is Mr Farage just riding a massive wave of discontent within the country that will start to dissipate the nearer it gets towards the shore of the next General Election (ooo, bit poetic that!)? If so, where did or does the wave of discontentment come from? The credit crunch? Covid? Way before or way after these or something else completely? I am not sure… it feels to me that many people just want to find someone else to blame for all their woes (Immigrants, Starmer, Jews, Muslims, the rich, tax dodgers, the poor, benefit cheats, the old, the young, etc etc…). I don’t think the sensationalism demonstrated on every news bulletin is helpful either – the narrative is overwhelmingly negative most of the time and kind of depressing 😞. I am not convinced one person, or group for that matter, can be responsible for all the shit I or anyone else might experience… Oh, unless your name is Trump as it seems he can cause a whole load of shite single-handedly, in just one social media post or interview 😂😂😂!
Oooo, a little bit of politics as Ben Elton would say!
When I studied psychology with the Open University (seems like a life-time ago now), I found the topic of Crowd Psychology (or herd mentality – whichever term you prefer) really interesting… Studying how individual identity – a person’s individual thoughts & actions – can be swayed and change when they become members of a crowd or group, adopting a collective social identity with the group (whilst I wouldn’t want to stereotype anyone, think of the sports fan who might be the mild-mannered office worker in the week but becomes a raving lunatic when on the terraces watching their team win or lose a match!).
Have you ever seen the “How to start a movement – Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy” on YouTube? It’s a great example… here’s the link (hope it works): https://youtu.be/r0872fKNtIw?si=A8N_lGYpLS5O2VFn
Anyway, enough of all that – it’s all too baffling and I’m sure my waffling on isn’t going to change things.
I woke up this morning reflecting on the election results and thinking of this Talk Talk classic tune for some reason:
Baby, life’s what you make it
Can’t escape it
Baby, yesterday’s favorite
Don’t you hate it
Baby life’s what you make it
Don’t back date it
Baby, don’t try to shade it
Beauty is naked
Baby, life’s what you make it
Celebrate it
Anticipate it
Yesterday’s faded
Nothing can change it
Life’s what you make it
Pete had a phone appointment with his consultant earlier this week too. She seems happy with his PSA count (under 1 now) and his progress during his recovery from chemo… he still gets a bit tired and suffers from pins & needles in his fingers and big toes but he is a lot better. His next appointment will now be in August so I guess he will have his blood tests at the end of July!
We began our journey to España this morning as we started the long drive south from the Scottish Borders to Portsmouth… we are now 300+ miles in, about an hour from Portsmouth and with a whole 24-hours to kill until the ferry sets sail at 10pm tomorrow night. Am looking forward to a possible visit to Fort Nelson, Farlington Marshes and perhaps a chippy tea somewhere before we board…
Leaving all the political furore behind for a few weeks seems like a nice idea – who knows, we might even have a new Prime Minister by the time we get back, although I kind of hope not as I don’t think changing Prime Ministers every time we don’t like something, really helps the country as we will then get back in the cycle of people saying the new Prime Minister doesn’t have a mandate or the backing of the country as they were not the person voted in at the election… and then the real madness will start again! Ho hum, guess we will wait and see what happens!
Here’s hoping for fair winds and a following sea! See you on the other side… of the Bay of Biscay that is! 🤣🤣🤣 Hasta Luego mi amigos xx
All the gubbins… 
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