What to say

So it’s been a while since my last blog post, other than a connecting walk post in January. Now I’ve pondered why I haven’t posted and it’s mainly because I’ve not had so much to say now I’m not working in the same world I once was!! It’s been 6 months since retiring from the

Connecting

What three words location /// crisis.prefer.longer. What three words parking location In the amazing book “lost connections” Johann Hari talks about what he believes are the 9 causes of depression contrary to the idea of chemical imbalance and many medical ideas and definitions. Loss of connections to nature, meaningful work, loss of belonging, disconnection from

The one you don’t forget.

(For all my blue light colleagues) I’m sorry it didn’t turn out how you may have wanted, I’m sorry you can’t carry on living how you thought. We tried our best to save you and at times things got a bit fraught. I know it’s the life I’ve chosen to work, the risk, the joy,

Chink

“There has to be a chink in all of us because that’s how the light can get in.” I am paraphrasing this from a character in “Unforgotten” the TV detective drama as it struck me when he said it. The detective was under some scrutiny, was a nasty piece of work but clearly had some

Frozen Broccoli

There will be a small number of people who understand why this post is titled “frozen Broccoli” and this post is mainly for them but also for us all to consider what the last 12 months have given us despite its challenges. 12 months ago my workplace went into “home working” as did almost everywhere.

Wisdom 18, 547,

As I write this post the number above is how many months or days I have until I can retire from my role in the fire service. I have never been one to ponder on the past or time left and always felt it was more about how long I have left to make a

Iceolation and Disconnection

Cold weather, cold times, cold hearts. Warmer weather, warmer times, warmer hearts. 2021 a new beginning!! Yeah right, or we continue into an unknown time of new words and new experiences. Lateral flow, PCR, Astra Zeneca, Oxford vaccine, Biontech, tiers, daily death rate etc. It’s easy in this time to forget what we were about

How does it feel?

Anxiety, depression , stress Three words I never really focussed on until they happened to me back in 2018. I’ve spoken a number of times on this blog about my own mental health and my own coping mechanisms and how we can all help each other but I have been thinking lately on how these

Blue lights responders: are we like Pavlov’s dogs?

I write this blog after a Weekend on duty where it was a busy one for phone calls and a few incidents to attend. On Friday I received a new work phone and set it up so that it rang and text in the same way. On reflection I did this because after nearly 10

Time and Motion

02/09/1992, that was the day 28 years ago when I walked into Coventry fire station at the start of training school on day one of my fire service life. With a fair wind, some good fortune and staying healthy I will retire on 09/09/2022. That means on the day I release this blog post I