Quoi?

I had the pleasure of attending a debate on "Christian Bashing" yesterday- ie: are christians being discriminated against in what is (supposedly) a Christian country. The likes of Howard Jacobson (Man Booker Prize Winner) spoke, as did a Bendictine monk (he was hilarious.) I went because my application to a certain prestigious university for Theology seemed to demand it, and, of course, it was a topic that interests me greatly. Discrimination is something that is frequently discussed in the culture in which we live, fashioned from deconstructed influences stemming from years of empires, immigrants and popular culture.  We wake up in the mornings and are at once surrounded by the world around us, in the news, the music on the radio, the things on television. We have, for all intents and purposes, become a country with no personal culture- ours is a universal culture, and, more than almost any other country I have visited, London is a melting pot of tradition and belief, stemming, less and less, from genuine Britishness. Personally, I love this, but I therefore find it difficult to swallow claims of discrimination. In a country where everyone believes something different, the only answer is to embrace secularism. If nobody can agree on what to believe, then the answer is to base the rules on something other than belief.

The Bearable Lightness of Being

Its 12.53am, and for the first time in I cannot remember how long, everything seems ok. I went to a party last night. I had an amazing time, I met more people in 4 hours than I've met in the last 2 months. For the first time in so long I felt like myself again. Not me struck down by terror of the world around me, with potential life-failure on my mind, not worrying about what anyone thinks, or the person I'm supposed to be. I just got to be me, and people actually seemed interested. This sounds so pitiful to say out loud. God only knows this is not a post which is poetic or even particularly well written, but right now I don't care. For once, life seems bearable. Everything is in its right place, and I've been reminded of what I used to, and still can, be. And if it took me a house party full of druggies to realise that- then all the better.

Listening to: Mr. Little Jeans, Rescue Song (RAC Remix)