Feel a little bit useless?

Do you not feel a little useless every so often? I’m not so much talking about local things, things you have influence over, but global ones. For me, locally, if things aren’t working well I try very hard to do something about it. I will talk to someone, or tackle the problem … or go for a run – or play my guitar. Somehow I manage to move the thing along, or find a solution, or the passing of time makes the issue irrelevant (apart from my recurring sinus issue, which I’ve tried multiple things, multiple times, and still I feel plagued).

I’m talking about global issues. Those which clearly have an impact on me and my family, but over which I have almost no control. The biggest is climate change. Sure, C and I do our bit with recycling, cutting down water and electricity use, trying not to buy new – make doing and mending, etc. But without wholesale, governmental action you just know the weather extremes are going to get worse and more persistent and that, whilst C and I are unlikely to be badly affected, Henry, our grandchild, is going to have to live with our ineffectiveness. It pains me most days.

And others. Afghanistan, Yemen, covid-19, women’s rights in Saudi, Belorussia, Haiti … the list of oppressed people, of civil wars, of dictators making normal peoples’ lives misery, is endless. And then closer to home. Of corrupt and inept politicians. Of lies and deceit (the Health secretary tweeted yesterday that he was opening up one of the 44 new hospitals promised by Johnson, when in fact he was opening up a cancer unit in an existing hospital. Don’t get me wrong – that’s good news. But why lie about it?). And then the factional nature of much of our discourse. Right v left. Brexit v remain. Christian v atheist. Masks v no masks. Vax v antivaxx. Nearly everyone, including me (although I try not to), is encamped with their opinions and the other side has got it all wrong.

Or maybe this is just because news and opinion is so much more readily available? Should I stay off social media? I don’t do Facebook madness – I get very little news from there. But I do get a lot of good quality (and, yes, positive reinforcement) news and comment from Twitter. I work hard to skip past the obviously insane, but with BBC, CNN, a number of right and left politicians – many international, and plenty of bright commentators, I do feel I get a world view untainted by falsehoods.

Or do I? More positive reinforcement? Probably.

Henry at playgroup with his Korean pal It is what cheers me (and C) up in this difficult world

Clearly it is frustrating me. Nowadays I can’t watch or listen to Boris Johnson without my skin crawling. But I could listen to Angela Merkel all day, for example. And you can amplify both of those lists at your leisure. Raab. Hancock. Williamson. Farage. Conversely, Starmer, Jess Phillips. Caroline Lucas – even Nicola Sturgeon. 

The good news is that once we’ve finished visiting mum (where we are now), we can count down to our planned camping trip to the Northern Isles. I know most of you think we’re mad, but I think we’re both really looking forward to the basicness of camping. But … will we be too close to nature? We’ll see.       

Stay safe everyone.