Some Pictures Must Be Taken. Some Quotes Must Be Quoted.
After a run of heavy-stuff posts, I decided to dig out this shot from 2013. Taken in my home town of Bratislava, Slovakia, outside the police station in the suburbs of the city.
It’s a poor quality photo–this was like 4 phones ago–but I hope it’s still funny, at least a bit.
Today is the anniversary of the Brexit referendum.
The past 12 months have been a rollercoaster of negative emotions, from anger to disappointment, to sadness and helplessness and rage so intense, it made me want to break things. That sick feeling when I woke up on the morning of 24th June 2016 to the referendum results? I never, ever want to experience that again, ever.
It’s exhausting and I’m tired of it.
So–what now? This now.
It was the song.
You know when you listen to a certain song and it, like, does something to you? I’m sure most of you have experienced it. So, I was listening to The Beatles–which is unusual for me as I normally favour 90s to present music, but I bought a ticket to see their museum in Liverpool, so I thought I should play me some of their tunes. Now, I’d known this song since forever, of course, but this is the time I fully and completely and 100% appreciated it.
This was back in April and I was thinking about how it would be a year since the referendum in two months’ time and I should mark that anniversary somehow; I don’t remember exactly how it came about, I just know it had something to do with the song. Then I’ve been coming across some quotes about forgiveness and how holding a grudge is like letting the person live rent-free inside your head and all that and I made a decision.
So today I want to say this to the Leave voters: I forgive you.
You really had no clue what the fuck you were doing. And even if you did have a clue, I still forgive you anyway.
Paul McCartney wrote the song after he had a dream in which his late mother spoke those words “let it be” to him. His mum’s name was Mary, so mother Mary is actually her, but he said if you want to interpret it religiously as Virgin Mary, then you can. I see her as a very wise mature lady who knows better. I should probably listen to her more often!
Some things I want to add:
Over to you, Fab Four:
I wonder, if anyone would like to share in the comments: is there a song that has made an impact in your life or is important to you in any way?
When I made this post, I didn’t expect a sequel.
This was written on one of those electricity boxes things (or what is it that they’re called). It must be from the protest that took place last Sunday.
Bridge on the Cathedral Approach, Manchester.
This city is great. If no other time, the past weeks have proved it.
Apparently so, but it makes no difference to me.
I am not allowed to vote in UK because I’m not a UK citizen. (True, I can vote in local elections, but whoever cares about that. Well, maybe you do if you’re a fan of Parks and Recreation but otherwise?)
So in UK, the way it works, Commonwealth citizens are eligible vote in General Election, but EU citizens aren’t. It doesn’t matter if you’ve lived here five years or fifty. That’s why the government is able to play us like a game of chess. We don’t matter.
Honestly, it never did bother me–how much difference does one person’s vote make anyway–until the 2016 Referendum. Then it very much bothered me. You see, I have this issue with being denied a vote in something that will affect my life.
This snap election has a lot to do with Brexit, as we know. So I’ve been feeling kinda like this:
I never take selfies, you know.
I decided I’m getting a pizza on Friday, regardless of the outcome. Pizza, not politics. Like I said before, Breakfast, not Brexit. I have nothing to lose in this, anyway.
So, if you’re here and you can, please don’t forget to go out and vote!
Since I started talking about eligibility to vote, I should also add that UK citizens that have lived in another country for more than 15 years lose their right to vote. I feel I need to mention it, because those British that live in EU countries are the same bargaining chips as us.
