Skip to main content

Why am I blogging?

Sunday 17th January 2021, nothing particularly unusual about today: a morning walk on the beach with my fiancée Holly, my daughter Ottilie and our two dogs Freddy and Finley; preparing the usual Sunday roast which normally accompanies Ottilie's fortnightly visit; and twenty minutes spare in which I'm going to scratch the itch I've had for a few weeks to start a blog.

In the interest of complete transparency (and of course not wanting to make promises one cannot keep!), I cannot guarantee anything to readers of this blog beyond honesty and a passionate case for causes that matter (to me anyway). I guess that is likely to be the USP of this blog, unfettered honesty and of course, the odd spelling mistake here and there.

I have many interests, some significant and others less so, some which most will find commendable, others less so:

- Depression
- Alzheimer's
- Sport
- Politics

There are more, but this somewhat eclectic mix of four are the ones which consume a sizeable chunk of my interest regularly and about which I spend much of my day pondering. I can't say for sure I'll ever confine my blog content to these four hefty subjects, but they'll certainly feature more regularly than others.

It is crucial that at this stage, I set some ground rules for my new blog. This will help keep me on track and avoid my routine temptation to waffle and disappear off down 'rabbit holes' of no relevance, but they'll also give any prospective readers a flavor of what to expect, a framework if you will, within which pretty much anything goes:

1). I'll always keep it brief - no more than 1,000 words per post
2). I'll be totally open about my own experiences (within reason, of course) - although I'll avoid naming third parties where is isn't appropriate
3). No blogging simply for the sake of it - a post should either educate, encourage, relate, or provoke debate
4). Undiluted passion, always
5). Opinion twinned with fact/supporting evidence

All relatively simple boundaries, some might say obvious, but they will help set the tone for my future content.

Ask, argue, engage, feedback and enjoy.

Speak soon!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today I am a 4.

It is a common misconception that those of us who suffer with depression, experience it as if it were a cold or a headache, like an ailment that will at some point just ‘pass’ with the help of some Night Nurse and a hot water bottle, or in the case of mental illness, anti-depressants. The reality is though, depressives are always depressed, and the ‘condition’ never actually disappears, it is simply that the severity of the symptoms fluctuate constantly depending on several external factors and the sufferer’s ability to manage them. Each day, I measure the severity of my depression using a basic ‘one to ten’ scale (a tip I got from Alastair Campbell, former Downing Street Communications Director and avid mental health campaigner), the pinch points in my scale help me to establish how I am feeling and the steps I need to take in order to manage my mood at that point. For the purposes of explanation, I call this depressedometer (a little grim I know): 1 – Absolute contentment. 2 ...
5 comments
Read more

The Depressive Leader.

I don’t know precisely how I generate the energy to work on the days I am depressed, never mind fulfil entirely my role as a senior leader, whilst meeting the needs of my employer, my team and my customer, but somehow, I do. An old friend and former colleague who is a HR professional and has a sound understanding of business psychology, suggested I write an entry which explores what it is like to be a depressive at work. A brilliant idea, I thought, but I’ve found myself really struggling to articulate what it is actually like and I’ve reached the conclusion that this is because my depression has played a key role in the career success I have enjoyed. I am not ashamed to admit that the majority of career opportunities awarded to me have been as a result of both dumb luck and being in the right place, at the right time. Depression has also contributed enormously to the person (in a professional capacity) I am today. The stigma associated with ill-mental health often drives employers...
4 comments
Read more

The breakdown.

  I have, on countless occasions, denied that what happened to me in early 2018 was a breakdown but that is exactly what is was. I’ve had several requests from friends and acquaintances asking me to share the specifics that both led to and were part of my 2018 crisis point. They tell me this will help them understand how depression can manifest itself when ignored and the warning signs that are associated. For the most part I believe them, though I can’t help but feel some simply see it as a ‘juicy read’ and I’m OK with that, because if a desire for something as such, results in them reading material which is likely to help them and others around them, who cares what their motivations, it is the means and the end result which matter. I’ll start at the beginning (whilst perpetually reminding myself of the need to exercise brevity). For as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt like I’m just not as good as everyone else and I cannot think of a entire week when I have not, at some...
3 comments
Read more