When I woke up this morning I felt a deep root of anger twisting into my soul like a knife.
Last night I saw my last illusions of integrity in our country's leaders shattered. Any thoughts that I am living in a democracy that values honesty and fairness are gone. I sat numb with despair as I heard the words that I cannot bring myself to say. Our leader has put self interest and protecting his cronies above the best interests of our nation. He shows contempt for us and seems to care nothing for the consequences.
How to react to this, I wonder. I could rail against the injustice of the world, I could stew in a pit of negativity, or as the great Maya Angelou once said:
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Now I know, she wasn’t writing for me or about this situation but the words resonate nonetheless. In need of inspiration this morning I turned to Charlie Mackesy and ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse,’ a book full of wise words and a great comfort when the darkness of the world threatens to overwhelm me. I found here more words that I needed to hear:
“One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.”
A simple message, but so true.
And so, I have decided that I will not react with despair and despondency as I felt like doing last night. I will react with positivity. I will turn my eyes to the light, the good in this world.
Some more wise words came back to me whilst I was writing this as well, from the wonderful writer Sarah Pennypacker in ‘Here in the real world’ (it’s a very beautiful and uplifting read, if you care to look it up) she says ‘you can’t fix everything...identify the piece of the problem you can do something about. Look around the edges-there’s always something you can do.’
And that is what I am doing-I have no control over how the government has behaved, I am a powerless cog in the machine; what I can do is choose how I react and how I think.
When I look back over the last few months of lockdown I chose to be inspired. Inspired by the feeling of community that has risen in our isolation, the stories of solidarity and sacrifice for the common good. Stories of people fundraising for the NHS and others working together to feed those in their community who have been neglected and abandoned by the government that is supposed to care for them. I am inspired by the feeling of unity in the teaching community-we have all been doing whatever it takes to serve our communities despite the lack of organisation from those in power and regardless of what the politically motivated trolls in the press say. So much good has come out of this bad situation.
This brings me unapologetically to some more wise words courtesy of Gerry and the Pacemakers:
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
Captain Tom Moore exemplified these words perfectly when he raised millions for the NHS, uniting the country in support and solidarity. For me, as a Liverpool fan, these words have always taken on a special significance, and it’s not what you would imagine. To me, they don’t really have much to do with football, but they represent resilience and determination in dealing with tragedy. They represent the 96 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster on 15th April 1989. They represent the fight for justice from the families and friends, from the people of the city of Liverpool, the fight against corruption and unfairness.
The people affected by this disaster didn’t sit back and give in to their despondency, they united and they fought for justice. It was a long fight and it isn’t completely over but still they rise.
As I write these words more than 36 thousand people have died from CoronaVirus in this country. We have the highest death rate in Europe. Our leaders have told us to stay strong and sacrifice for the common good. We have done this. It appears they haven’t followed their own rules though. Now is the time to stay strong, hold our heads up high and carry on. We have every right to be angry about this but we must be united and do what is right. One day, this will be over, one day it will be safe to go out again and see our loved ones and hold them and comfort them. When that day comes we need to rise, show our united force and seek justice for our loved ones that are no longer with us.
It is ok to feel angry about the situation our government has put us in, it is not ok to let that anger cloud our judgment. It is not ok for us to lose sight of the overwhelming positives in the kindness and compassion that our communities have shown. We may have been treated with contempt by those in power, they may think we don’t matter-they will find that when we unite, our numbers and voices will matter; we will be heard; we will seek justice.
I am going to end on some more wise words from Charlie Mackesy:
“Don’t measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated,”
It may not feel it at the moment, but we have value, and if we unite we have the power to fight for what is right.