Good Housekeeping - What I've learnt from the budget

Learning from the wisdom of the budget my husband and I have sat down and reviewed our household income. We thought it would be helpful to share some of our thoughts so that other people can also apply the chancellors excellent approach to finances to their own personal circumstances.

The child we were fostering has to go. Though this child has been with us three years we have come to see the lack of wisdom in times of austerity of supporting such scroungers. We are sure if she just tried a little harder he could sort out her parents break down or alternatively support herself with a job I mean if she doesn't put any effort into supporting herself then we can't keep propping her up. Plus we just don't have the room anymore the recession has made our house magically shrink.

We may get another lodger. Our current lodger is great and we really need to let him know how much we appreciate him. We are going to invite him to dinner and reduce his rent as a way of thanking him for paying 30% of his rent intermittently. We hope that keeps him happy because we really couldn't afford for him to move out. Plus we lent him several thousand pounds of our savings and if he moves out we might not get it back so we really need to make sure he stay's cause that was meant to be for the kids uni fees. 

We've cut the kids pocket money - there just isn't any room for that at the moment. We've also asked Granny if she could start doing the childcare while were at work because we can't afford nursery fees and Granny loves the kids so I'm sure she'd be happy to do it for free. Then we can go to work for more hours.

We have a family holiday coming up, to keep costs low we're going to leave the kids behind - they don't really need a holiday. We've had a look at what we could sell off and cut out. We don't want to cancel the golf club memberships or stop hosting dinner parties for our richest friends. We do think though we could put the kids on a diet of gruel. They need to stop eating so much of that junk food and piles of sugar they've been consuming anyway, we have told them repeatedly but they keep on eating what's in the cupboard. 

Also they haven't really been contributing much we might send them a bill for their toys, oh and tax them for our efforts in helping keeping the toys safe. Also I think the third one will just have to go, last in first out. 

If we keep making these right choices we should be able to run a surplus by 3010. We are anticipating some resistance from the children so we are going to make sure they hear us ask the lodger to make sure he please pays the rent. We'll let the lodger know beforehand though because we really mustn't lose him it would be so hard to find another lodger I mean there are just so few people looking for accommodation.

There is a Choice: Jeremy for Labor Leader #Jezwecan

Political Red Shift

In case you missed it I am incredibly excited about Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Leadership bid and that at the very least we have someone publicly and repeatedly getting the airtime to refute the austerity myth. I am not the only one there is a growing movement of people who are beginning to glimmer some hope and I think Jeremy Corbyn will do better than many people originally predicted.

The media reporting and general public perception of the anti-austerity movement is much more dismissive and mocking than history will be. The reality is that the idea's that Jeremy and the wider movement he listens to and dialogs with, are not extreme or overly ideological. Mostly they are not knew ideas mostly they are things that our society at some point has accepted as sensible. 

So why do so many people perceive this movement as so much 'lefter' or 'redder' than it actually is? I think the stars can help us answer this.

Red Shift is the name for the phenomenon that describes why some stars look red. When we look at stars that are moving away from us (or we are moving away from them) the light coming from them, which we know should be a yellow color, looks red. This is because the wavelength appears to look longer because the objects are moving away from each other. It's the same reason that when a police car goes past you the siren sounds with a lower pitch as it drives away from you. 

I think we have a similar situation in european politics. The right are moving to the right and arguably with increasing velocity. We find ourselves on this moving object and as we look out at alternative galaxies we our not conscious of our own position or relative direction through the political universe. As we look out at alternative galaxies many of them, that in reality have been more constant than we ever have, appear to be getting increasingly red. 

Political Doppler effect or Political Red Shift (n.): the means by which the political left appears far left because of the speed with which the right is moving far right. 

Weeping Clouds

Only weeping clouds create rainbows and they share them with us all.

The first half of this revelation came to me a month or so ago. As I pondered those I loved who experienced depression. You cannot open yourself up to loving this world deeply without opening yourself up to great sorrow and yet we pathologise, blame and marginalise those who's emotions are in align with the reality of the pain of life.

The last few days I've been thinking about those weeping clouds sharing those rainbows. 

For the majority of my life I have deeply cared about people who were blue. I have learnt and benefited so much from them. What you gain from living closely to people who live in colder emotional climates is hard to pin down. But recently I have started to realize how deep my debt is to them. Like any diversity issue we all stand to gain by a more inclusive culture.

I am humbled by their courage to get up each day and face the world. It teaches me about the strength of human character resolve and will. I have never done anything close to approaching that much overcoming. I give up at the first hurdle and take one of the many other options available to the privileged emotionally typical.

I am grounded by their different energies. The slowness of movement, thought and communication forces me to slow down to consider more deeply what I'm saying to reach out further and therefore to reach deeper into myself, my motives, it causes me to pause, to reflect.

The turmoil of anxiety sharpens me stops me running away from things I've thrown aside as unimportant, skiped over neglected.

The fear of social engagement checks the frivolous interactions I have with people without the care and thought due in the sacred moment of engaging with another human being.

So from a constantly energetic, self-assured, extrovert to those who have been told their emotions are invalid.

Thank you. 

I have no desire for your suffering but don't for a moment think you don't contribute huge amounts to those around you. You do.