Share Your World: 28 December 2020

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 ~ Ruth ~ 3 Comments

Pick three words to describe this past year…

Unsettled, uncertain, unknown

What were the best books you read this year? Or the best movie you saw?

Sadly books have been taking a backseat for me for a while, not just for 2020, but I’ve certainly watched a lot of TV movies over the past few months. Old movies, modern movies, old favourites, new favourites, family movies, chick-flicks, murder mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, superhero movies, coming-of-age movies… You name it, I’ve probably watched it at some point during 2020.

Because there was lots of time for looking inwards, what is one big personal lesson you learned this year?

This year I’ve learned that I’m a lot stronger emotionally than I think. In spite of this global pandemic in all honesty my overall mental health this year has been not much different than usual – in general being at home a lot is not a problem for me, not socialising a lot is not a problem for me, so in some ways this has actually all been relatively easy for me compared to some. It seems that being a depressive means I’m pretty much made for pandemics – insular, introverted, insignificant. Blending quietly into the background and sitting tight for the duration surprisingly suits my DNA.

Do you think Covid has strengthened or weakened societal bonds?

Strengthened, here in the UK anyway. On the whole we’ve followed more than fought what is asked of us restriction-wise, most of us have sacrificed and suffered and shared what we have and social distanced as best we can. There are always going to be doubters and nay-sayers amongst a population, but we haven’t quite had the extreme political bifurcation of believers vs deriders that seems to be so prevalent in the USA. Having said that, our infection rates and death rates are still sky-high, but we still keep on doing whatever we’re supposed to, trying to do our bit.

What is a New Year’s wish you would like to share with the world?

What I’d like for 2021 is for a new world order where humanity as a species remembers that the planet does not belong to us – we belong to the planet. We have to look after our environment, stop destroying the climate, the oceans, the atmosphere. We are not supreme beings, nature is still in charge. We destroy nature through our grasping greed, and ultimately we destroy ourselves. Learn the long-term lesson Covid is teaching us. Be grateful we still have time to repair what we have broken, before it’s too late.

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Share Your World: 14 December 2020

December 17, 2020 ~ Ruth ~ 2 Comments

What news event do you vividly remember hearing about as a child, and where were you?

‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’
Neil Armstrong, July 1969

I was five and a half when man first walked on the moon, and I remember mum calling me through to the living room to watch the live footage on our standard black and white TV. The thing is, I had absolutely no idea of the enormity of what was going on, or that it was reality not just fantasy – it was just a grown-up TV programme that didn’t interest me at all. The picture was too fuzzy and I thought it was a really rubbish-looking spaceman, not nearly as good as some others I’d seen on TV. So I remember it most clearly from a perspective of childhood bewilderment – it’s only in retrospect I can truly appreciate exactly what I saw happening in front of my eyes 🙂

What is a Christmas song that makes you cringe?

When it comes to modern popular songs, all of them and none of them – at any other time of year they all sound naff, but there’s something about listening to them all at Chistmas time that makes them sound OK, giving me the warm and fuzzies. Traditionally, even though I’m not religious at all, I love hearing all the old Christmas carols and can happily sing along with the best of them – and yes, I can still remember the words 🙂

What is one place you shop(ped) prior to Covid that might have surprised people?

Um… not sure… can’t really think of anywhere… But as a non-religious person I really love spending time in old churches, which some people may find odd. I love the impressive architecture, and the hushed feeling of height and space and peace and calm. And I love the amazing accoustics when hearing all those old hymns sung a cappella – see above answer 🙂

What is your least favourite holiday side dish?

Brussels sprouts… Yuk! 😦

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Share Your World: 27 July 2020

July 31, 2020 ~ Ruth ~ 9 Comments

Are you a clean or a messy person?

Hmmm… If the question is are you clean or dirty, then the answer is most definitely clean-ish, but I believe a little bit of dust here and there now and again never hurt anyone.And if the question is are you tidy or untidy, then I probably sit comfortably about the middle of the continuum. I’m certainly not a minimalist when it comes to personal possessions so I like to have my things around me with a place for everything and everything in its place, and being surrounded by such clutter doesn’t necessarily count as ‘tidy’ to minimalist neat-freaks 🙂

If I asked you to describe yourself in five words, what would they be?

Daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, me. I remember years ago taking part in a small personal development training session as part of a management team where coincidentally I was the only woman present, at that time a young single parent working mother of three small children. We each had to write down ten words describing who we were, and these were discussed in the group afterwards. Almost all of the men had included at least eight out of ten words that were individually descriptive of specific traits or characteristics they valued whereas about seven out of ten of mine were linked directly to naming my relationships with others. I remember the significance of the gender difference being remarked on by everyone, but for me it was an honest response. I was born and brought up at a time when women were legally second-class citizens, long before the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, which has inevitably shaped my early identity and in many ways still shapes how I think of myself today.

Do you enjoy being out in nature?

I love being out in nature, walking by water or through woods or spending time in my garden, and just generally being outside in the fresh air and warm sunshine. But I like being indoors at night, tucked up safe and sound in my own comfy bed.

What could you spend all day talking about?

Nothing. I’m an introvert at heart, and much as I love being in company at times I also enjoy having some extended periods of solitude and silence in my day. Even the thought of talking all day exhausts me.

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Share Your World: 1st June 2020

June 2, 2020 ~ Ruth ~ 5 Comments

Is it ever OK to commit a crime? Please explain.

Sigh! This is me answering, so as usual for these kinds of question expect a convoluted ‘it depends’ response! If we agree that committing a crime is breaking a law, then the assumption is that the law being broken will be fair and just for all. And yet the world over, countries have laws that are anything but fair and just for all.

One hundred years ago Suffragettes broke the law here in the UK when protesting against women being denied the vote. Right up until 1967 otherwise perfectly innocent gay men in the UK were saddled with criminal records simply by loving people in a way the law said was wrong. Girls and women here had millions of back street abortions before the law changed, also legalising abortion in 1967.

So to get to my answer – if the law in question protects one set of people over another, is deliberately set out in a particular way in order to frustrate, discriminate and disenfranchise and to maintain a particular status quo that reeks of social inequality throughout the entire societal structure and hierarchy, then in my book, in absolutely extreme situations where all else fails, damn right it’s OK to commit a crime if that’s what it takes to highlight and try to change said social inequality once and for all.

Do you deal with change well?

Yes and no… I like to have routine and ritual in my life, but then I also like to shake things up a bit from time to time when stuff starts to feel a bit stagant.

Do you like birds? The sound of birdsong in the morning, taking pictures of them, as food?

Birdsong – absolutely. Bird pictures, not so much – but if I ever got myself a good telephoto lens that might change. Food – yum! Chicken is my absolute go-to favourite, duck and goose not so much, Game birds – no thanks, the meat is just too strong for me.

What’s the least-used item of clothing you own?

I have a beautiful long black bias cut velvet dress I bought in a sale once for really silly money (ie genuinely an absolute bargain!).

I know everyone is supposed to have a Little Black Dress that sees them through every eventuality, and although I’m not a very smart-dress person I actually own three black dresses along three different levels of formality, for different occasions. One is an above the knee black lace skater-style party dress, one is a below the knee plain ‘interview and funeral’ dress, and the other is the more formal floor-length velvet number.

The party dress gets worn very occasionally – I’m really not a party animal – and the interview and funeral dress gets worn as necessary, but to date the beautiful velvet dress has never yet been worn. But it hangs dutifully in my wardrobe just incase I ever need it… 🙂

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Share Your World: 18 May 2020

May 18, 2020 ~ Ruth ~ 3 Comments

What’s something you really resent paying for?

Honestly, I really resent that we have to pay through the nose every year for a US-tax-qualified accountant here in the UK to prepare my husband’s US tax return for the IRS just because he is an American Citizen by birth.

My husband has lived continuously in the UK since he was 11 years old, has been educated here in the UK, has only ever worked here in the UK, pays into the tax system here in the UK, owns property here in the UK, got married here in the UK, and intends to retire here in the UK. But because America has the most antiquated system of taxation based on citizenship rather than residency, my husband is required by law to file a ridiculous amount of complex and convoluted tax paperwork each year only to show that because we are fully compliant with UK tax requirements, he does not actually owe any tax to the US Government.

And by the way this is not just a ‘simple’ tax return, the same as that filed by US citizens who live and work in the country – it costs us such a lot of money each year to have each tax return completed properly and professionally by our accountant, to ensure we correctly meet the legal federal requirement to file. And then to add insult to injury, we also have to upload all our bank account information every year to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency to prove that our so-called ‘Foreign Bank Accounts’ are free from any suspicious money-laundering activities.

What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen?

I don’t ever do modern scary movies or any kind of gratuitous horror stuff, so ‘unsettling’ in any other way is difficult to put my finger on… probably psychological thrillers unsettle me most, and watching the original ‘Psycho’ in my teens is still probably high up there on the freaked-out scale for me.

Do you judge people?

I think we all tend to judge people, however hard we try not to, and it seems like the older I grow, the more judgier I get, but also the more aware of it I am so wherever possible can try to minimise my judgement accordingly.

Finish this sentence ‘Back in my day, we…’?

Back in my day, when we weren’t at school we played outside all day without supervision, climbed trees, made dens, got filthy, coped with countless nettle-stings and grazed knees without too much fuss, and generally learned to amuse ourselves independently of our parents without there being an electronic gadget in sight… 🙂

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