Truth is a lie to those for whom it has no benefit

A different kind of call to action

To those saying we should give Trump and May et al a chance, I suggest not only caution but action.

We should not give leaders like May or Trump or Merkel, Tusk or Junkers, Putin or Erdogan "a chance" because they must be held responsible and answerable for their actions and we must keep them in check. They are their countries' leaders because, through democratic process rather than necessarily voting them in, their people put them there: it is our responsibility as citizens, national and global, to hold them to account as much as their responsibility as leaders. And when what they say leads to hatred and violence, fear and death then they must be stopped!

In a world which champions digitisation and information-overload we succumb to the simplification of ideas and ideology without considering the greater good. And it works for those who wish to maintain a hierarchy of corruption in their view of a status quo.

Greed begets greed and power begets power because those who want it will do anything to have it.

Those who lead us make decisions which affect us all, not just those who agree.

Those who claim to unite us divide us.

Those who claim to protect us put us in the most danger.

Those who claim to fight for us fight for themselves.

Those who disagree with us now hate us and apparently we are supposed to hate them.

Regardless of what you think or feel you are ignorant to others because those who don't feel the same think you don't have the ability to read and research and understand what they do.

Truth is in the eye of the beholder, or the mouth of the most vociferous, not in the dissembling of fact.

Truth is a lie to those for whom it has no benefit.

Fact is not truth, yet opinion has become fact and is seen as better than truth.

Fact is "alternative".

Post truth is fact.

We have so much information, processed and presented in so many ways we have simply created a distillation method that regurgitates fact in the way we want to see it because it fits our mindset.

No, we will not all see eye to eye, we will not agree on everything. But that doesn't mean we should stop trying.  Neither does it mean that you must automatically hate what you don't like. Do that and you accept division and fear and violence, prejudice and intolerance. That helps absolutely no one.

So contact your MPs and your local councillors with your concerns, join marches, sign petitions, join political parties and make your feelings and your voice heard through the democratic, diplomatic means we have at our disposal; not just by spouting on social media and getting angry because you don't like what someone just said. Present your argument, your case, your point of view with passion, by all means, but do it with a true understanding, supporting information and a desire for change and collaboration; not a bombardment of heavy handed insults and abuse.

The moment you just sit back and let it happen you capitulate and history has proven time and time again that it is beyond foolish to do so.

But, please, do not succumb to violence. Do not rise to anarchic fits of rage and rebellion.

But do not let up on your leaders. Their mandate is for their people, not just some of them. It will never please everyone, but their responsibility is not to the few.

Make your revolution passionate and heartfelt but peaceful and kind, open and democratic; a guide to understanding and benefit not a driven path to danger and destruction. Show your face and be proud of what you believe in. Be prepared to stand firm and calm in the face of insults and abuse.

MY - 2017

Bloody liberals, coming over here, considering everyone's issues, finding compromise...

Why is the word "liberal" being used as an insult, a derogatory term, a subject of ridicule and hate, especially with regard to Brexit and Trump?

If we were ever confused about the disconnected society that has developed since the last world war, Brexit and Trump, Syria and Somalia, Indonesia and China will, if nothing else, have served to pinpoint just how differently we think and act. If these extremes are genuinely representative of national and international ideologies, rather than individual opinion expressed vehemently but by comparatively few people, and fewer and fewer people are prepared to listen to each other with a view to finding negotiated compromise over issues that affect every single one of us, I would simply ask this:

Why are we so prepared to hate? Have we been conditioned to do so, or are we naturally predisposed to it? (probably deserves consideration on its own merit, that.)

I believe we are better than this, that we are capable of so much more, beyond the anger and bile, the vitriol and intolerance, the shaming and blaming, the alternate facts and post truths, the fear mongering and hate rhetoric.

All it really takes is a moment to stop and listen to views that are not our own. To consider why someone else might think differently; what their experiences may be. The more of us who are patient and capable of doing this, the better prepared we can be to develop a future where different views lead to debate rather than conflict, benefit rather than rage. That makes me a liberal.

Liberal - defined as:

• favourable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
• noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.
• of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism, especially the freedom of the individual and governmental guarantees of individual rights and liberties.
• favourable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
• favouring or permitting freedom of action, especially with respect to matters of personal belief or expression.
• of or relating to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.
• free from prejudice or bigotry.

I'm struggling to see why the word "liberal" is becoming such a bad thing, an insult, a curse. Being "liberal" is a good thing, surely; open to question, considerate of others but not weak or downtrodden, apathetic or permissive for the sake of it.

But that's how I'm wired, or conditioned, or otherwise created.

And I'm proud of it.

MY - Jan 2017

Working With What You've Got

Playing Long John Silver in the Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre

production of Treasure Island - December 2016

The choices we make regarding work and career are based on a variety of individual premises: finance, passion, ambition, talent to name but a few. I just wanted to consider how what we know we can do can be both a benefit and a hindrance in developing a business opportunity.

Everyone has skills. They might be numerical, physical, creative, but whatever they are, once you start to promote yourself, they can both pigeon-hole you and open doors to a whole new range of opportunities. A lot of it depends on how you see your own talents. Within the industries in which I work, actors and voice artists are very quickly recognised for specific attributes: build, hair and eye colour, vocal quality, tone and depth; all "terminally" useful from a casting perspective, but it is easy to get bogged down personally in the mud of type-casting. That's wonderful if you are regularly getting work within that particular bracket or brand, but what do you do if that's not happening and yet you are still cast to type?

"Transferable skills" is a lovely sound bite, but recognising your own as transferable can often be daunting, especially if you're not a naturally self-promoting individual. It can be even harder if your skills are very personal (voice or body type), so developing not only a coping method for rejection but also a promotion strategy for your own specific areas of expertise is half the battle.

Deciding what your skills are can also be difficult, especially if you have been entrenched in a specific industry and even a dedicated facet within that industry for any length of time - and particularly if you no longer consider them, individually, as skills. Giving a presentation is a skill. Analysing data from a variety of media is a skill. Extrapolating patterns from diverse sources is a skill. Talking out loud is a skill. Writing informative and engaging copy is a skill.

But if you do it day in day out, it may not seem like it's much to shout about. Breaking down what you do into its component parts may seem like a bit of a chore, but it will help you see just how expert you have become within your role and give you an opportunity to explore what else you might be able to apply your skills to; combine them as a set; offer them as specifics.

Allowing yourself to enjoy the abilities that you have and seeing them as skills that are applicable and in demand is sometimes tough for us all. Letting yourself explore how they might enable you to develop them in a beneficial way for others, let alone your bank balance, could reveal a surprising layer of new opportunities. Working with what you've got requires you to know what it is, understand its value and believe in what you can do with it.

I'm not attempting to reinvent anything here, but I see, all too often, colleagues and friends refusing to acknowledge what they do; perhaps because they do not want to seem pushy or arrogant, or they simply do not recognise what they do as a skill as it has become a mundane element to their every day tasks. A simple look at how you function within your role, whether as a freelancer or within a company structure and regardless of your current level of confidence in it, might well give you pause for consideration of your own skill sets and just what you might be achieve with them.

You might surprise yourself. I hope you do. I know I did.

MY