I just want you to be happy

I just want you to be happy

hello friend

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Hello there. Are you ok? I’m not. Everything is getting worse. It would be strange, to me, if you were alright given everything that is going on. Remember that it is ok to not be ok, to cry, scream, punch a pillow or feel. If you can afford to you should treat yo self. *dreams* If only I could take a week off and do nothing other than watch Parks n Rec with bacon and whisky. Please and thank you. Anyway…

My wife and I watched the Ewan McGregor and Charlie Borman travel show “The Long Way Round” this week. Ah 2004. No iPhones. No social media. Film cameras. Was it really better? shrug There was an interesting moment about 3/4s of the way through the show. The team were trying to get to Magadan in Russia. It’s on the edge of Russia and the airport they needed to fly from to get to Alaska. Many people told them the route was impossible to travel. Waters too high. Bridges collapsed. That sort of thing. There was no alternate route or plan. Magadan. No question. They managed to get there. It was a hard, painful, and exhausting journey but they did it simply because there was no other choice. They did the impossible which made them happy which helped get them to the next impossible task. It was a solid reminder of what you can do when you put your mind to it. I know it seems like everything is impossible right now but what choice do we have? We have to push on because there will be a place out there that will be better.

This week, for me, has been trying. Today is trying my patience. I’ve had a whole bunch of extra hassle this week with the house and the car. On top of that there’s the US election to ignore/worry about because worrying is free and plentiful. On top of that there’s a pandemic to really worry about. I consider myself incredibly lucky that I had 2 photo jobs this week. While some people are struggling to have 2 meals a day I can afford (just) to put petrol in the car and do photo jobs. I am struggling but I am lucky. I remind myself of that before I go for a rant on social media or fall down a pit of mental despair. Life could be much worse. I could be much worse off if I give in to negative thinking and catastrophising. Those thoughts have no place in my head and yet they’re often there. Deal with what I can today. Deal with the rest tomorrow. Charlie and Ewan would never have done their trip if they didn’t believe in it, themselves and also worked towards that goal of Magadan. No time for “What if…”

I’m reminded of Miles Morales in ‘Into The Spider-Verse’. He’s just a kid but he has people who believe in him and in a lot of ways it is the belief that enables him to do amazing things. While he has amazing abilities he can’t properly tap into them until his head is in the right place. The show Ted Lasso is also about the power of belief. Small acts of kindness. The belief in the idea that little positive nudges will all add up to greatness. You could argue the show takes a bunch of classic grumpy Brits and helps them to believe that they can be happy. Can you only imagine?

All these heroes, super or not, stand up and push on because of good mental health. The power to believe doesn’t come from sarcasm (darn it), or being bitter and judgemental (aw). It comes from being in a good place. I know that seems impossible right now and I’m not suggesting we all join hands across the world (social distancing and physical contact issues alert!) for a good old peas n love sing song. What I’m suggesting is we follow the best piece of advice my dad ever gave me. “I just want you to be happy.” I know there is so much against us right now but if you can I just want you to be happy.

I know. I know. I know how impossible that seems. On Monday night I was trying to believe in a new idea. A simple idea. Find something small to be happy about and milk it. I tweeted;

#TheLittleThings

Tomorrow I get to listen to music I like.

👍💜🖖

A simple idea that tomorrow I get to enjoy music again. I hoped this would be enough to fall asleep happy to and get me fired up the next morning. The next day my kitchen flooded and I nearly broke down. Did this little thought save me? Nope. I laughed at how naive I had been the previous night with my inspirational tweet nonsense and got to work fixing things. My car is currently having its MOT. Yay more money to burn. I should be on the floor under my desk waiting for all this to blow over but I don’t have time for that. My wife is working 9-5. She needs me to fix the kitchen and sort the car. There’s no turning back, going around or alternate plan. I have to push on and get it done. I absolutely have to believe I can do it because no-one else can and the result would be no car and no kitchen. So I know believing that you can be happy again seems impossible but it is possible. I must believe that because its the only way I’m getting my wife and I through this.

Shame that the world doesn’t need more sarcasm right now though. Something to look forward to. Gotta have something right?

things that make me smile

weekly prints

For one week only you can get prints of the photos in this weeks newsletter on my print store. So be quick if you see something you like.

This weeks photos are from a foggy morning over the River Mersey. This time of year is great for foggy river days. I love waking up and hearing the fog horn at the ferry terminal. It’s the “It’s interesting out!” horn.

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