The Day After...

Resurgence

I haven't written a new post in quite some time. It's been a long 10 or so months since the EU referendum, and an even longer 18 months+ since I wrote my last post on the David Sheldrick Elephant run. 

I finished my postgrad research a few months ago and had my graduation a mere two weeks ago. 

The study was possibly the most full-time thing I've ever done (despite it only being a part-time course!) and frankly, I was burnt out and needed time to reflect for my next move. 

The Day After...

This will probably all sound a bit dramatic, but the day after the EU referendum result, I was in utter dismay.  

It was a hellish type of week anyway but I digress, the results of the referendum was the last thing I needed! 

As I said in my EU ref post, I'm half-Brit/half-Dutch, so the referendum was personal to me. And still is. 

Politically Minded

Though I've always had an interest in politics, I'd never joined as a member of a political party. It's not possible to agree with absolutely everything in a manifesto, so why throw away the freedom to change your mind? 

I had been a Liberal Democrat voter for over 10 years. They're a strong presence in my local area (one of the councillors is my neighbour!), and though they aren't in power, they still champion for work and change. Something neither of the other two main parties has ever done until an election is around the corner. 

I still defend some of the choices Nick Clegg made during his stint as Deputy PM, though I never voted LibDem after that.  I deflected my allegiance.

The day after the EU referendum, when the speeches, the dismay, the disbelief and the gaudy glee of Farage's face filled our screen, I felt like giving up. 

Then a facebook post that came up from the Green Party. Something they said stoked the fire that had been burning out. 

It felt like a call to arms, a resilience, a resistance... The Bresistance! 

There and then I nailed my colours to the mast. 

And they were Green! 

My First Political Party Meeting

I didn't end up going to my first local party meeting until the December - six months after signing up. Study and work commitments took every last drop of energy out of me. 

Sometimes in life, we need a catalyst. Something to fire up the furnace to make us get out there to create change. 

A facebook post called me to join The Bresistance.

A threat called me to Action. 

The proposal of yet another golf course on the Wirral - where I live. 

We already have 14 underused golf courses! 

It was threatening the site of wintering bird I'd been studying and would be catastrophic to our local wildlife, habitats, and green belt land. 

The local Green Party - my Wirral Greens - were due to discuss it at the next meeting, and I had to be part of the conversation.

I met some brilliant people who are pioneering the campaign to stop this atrocity. As it turned out, as we got to the subject of the golf resort, someone drove into the side of my car, which was parked just outside, and I ended up missing the discussion. 

It also turned out to be the metaphor for my year.  

Nevertheless, we've managed to discuss it since and created a new blogsite specifically for the campaign... check it out!