Skip to main content
Tag

death

The Death of Two International & Iconic Queens

By Gay, ThinkingNo Comments

Recently we’ve lost two international iconic queens, Lily Savage (Paul O’Grady) and Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries). Here is my tribute to them:

Click here to display content from YouTube.
Learn more in YouTube’s privacy policy.

Click here to display content from YouTube.
Learn more in YouTube’s privacy policy.

I don’t think that anyone could ever replace them. But in the same breath, the young comedy performers coming through just haven’t got that iconic quality.

Blog soon,

Antony

Share on Social Media:

The People that are Ignored or Forgotten – Homelessness in the UK

By Life, ThinkingNo Comments
homelessness-in-the-UK Whenever the temperature really drops, like it has today, I think of people that are homeless. No scratch that, I think of people who I see as homeless – those that sleep on the streets.

I usually donate to my local homelessness project The Brick and hope that those sleeping on the street keep themselves warm enough to survive the bitter and bleak night.

If I’m totally honest: I find it utterly shocking that the UK, as one of the richest countries in the world, has homelessness and rough/street sleeping. At first glance homelessness could be easily resolved by ensuring suitable accommodation for everyone.

But the truth is that homelessness is a complex issue. Why? Because people are complex. There are also a range of complex issues that lead to people becoming and remaining homelessness.

The causes of homelessness or contributing factors include:

  • Poverty, being unemployed, being underemployed or losing source of income.
  • Unmanageable debt.
  • Addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling.
  • Mental illness – including depression, anxiety, bipolar, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and personality disorder.
  • Domestic Abuse – including violence.
  • Breakdown of relationships – both romantic and with family, friends or others.
  • Chronic physical illnesses or diseases.
  • Physical, emotional, sexual, financial abuse or neglect.
  • Having a family history of homelessness (according to Shelter).
  • Transformation or regeneration of areas – leading to unaffordable house prices, mortgages or rents.
  • Criminal and/or antisocial behaviour including being in prison.
  • Being in the care of Social Care or being in the Armed Forces.
  • Changes to benefits and social security administration and/or payments.
  • Poor social support networks or isolation.
  • Death of carers for dependents.
  • Having no right to work or claim benefits/social security.
  • A combination of the above.

There are two different types of homelessness: 1. People that are sleeping rough on the streets, park benches or doorways. 2. People that are living in temporary accommodation. People in temporary accommodation maybe housed by their local authority in a bed and breakfast or cheap hotel, or maybe sofa surfing staying with relatives or friends.

We don’t have a handle on homelessness in the UK. We don’t have accurate figures of people that are sleeping on the street. Local Authorities are once a year required to go out and survey the population of people who are sleeping rough in their communities.

However in 2010 the Government changed the rules for local authorities (see Evaluating the Extend of Rough Sleeping by the Department for Communities and Local Government). These changes have impacted the annual reporting of homelessness, significantly reducing the numbers of people counted as rough sleeping or people that are sleeping in the street.

It is too easy to ignore or forget about people that are homeless. I’ve ignored people sat on the street when I’ve walked through the High Street of various town centres. The cold weather triggers me to think about people who are sleeping on the streets. But most of the time, if I don’t go into town centres, I forget about people who are homeless.

Here are some ways, that wont cost you a penny, to prevent people that are homeless from being ignored or forgotten:

  • Educate yourself and others around homelessness.
  • Use your skills, talents or hobbies to promote awareness of homelessness. A good example is this blog post, I’ve written it to raise awareness.
  • Email your local politician and ask them to campaign for people that are homeless and raise the issue in parliament. Politicians have the power to make positive changes to reduce and prevent homelessness.
  • Donate old items to charity shops that specifically support homelessness projects.
  • Volunteer your time in homeless projects.

I once heard someone say: You are only ever two paydays away from being homeless. I can’t remember who told me this, or the find the first person to say this on the internet. But I believe it to be true.

Like I believe that anyone could end up becoming homeless, it would just require the right causes or circumstances to become present in your life.

So take action for people that are homeless, because one day it could happen to you. Or to someone that you love. You wouldn’t want yourself or someone that you love to be ignored or forgotten.

Take care,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:

The Cycle of Life

By Life, ThinkingNo Comments

Life is a cycle. It has stages or distinct periods, associated with age and these ages are also associated with key events. Everyone who lives a full life cycle will goes through each of these stages. They are:

cycle-of-life-diagram-by-Antony-Simpson

The Cycle of Life Diagram by myself.

Prebirth
There is some debate between Scientists, Doctors, Religious Leaders and Philosophers about when human life actually begins. Some say it begins at conception or fertilisation (generally most Religious Leaders), whereas Scientists and Doctors in the UK state that human life begins once a fertilised egg has implanted its self into the uterus wall, based on medical research and legal judgements.

Whichever you believe to be correct, this stage of life goes from 0-40 weeks. In this time you grow from a single cell into an embryo (from day four of fertilisation to week eight of pregnancy) and then into a foetus (from week eight of pregnancy till birth). Your mother will go through the three trimesters of pregnancy. You will be called a baby from birth.

Birth
You come into this world as a baby that is fully dependent on your mother, father and/or other carers to meet your needs for: milk, hygiene, warmth, sleep, safety, stimulation and love (emotional attachment and bonding). This is a period of rapid physical growth.

By 3-6 months old you will need to be weaned on to solid foods to satisfy your hunger and to give you enough nutrients to continue this rapid period of growth. Between 6-9 months old you will begin exploring your environment by crawling.

By 1 year old you begin to walk and enter into the infancy stage of your life cycle.

Infancy
In this stage you learn through exploration and play. This stage is usually between the ages of 1 to 5.You develop in all sorts of ways including:

  • Physically – you continue to grow, develop gross and fine motor skills.
  • Cognitively – you develop your ability to solve basic problems and begin to develop your imagination.
  • Language – You learn to communicate verbally through speech. You will go from knowing a handful of words to hundreds.
  • Socially – You learn to parallel play, share and social rules.
  • Emotionally – You learn to identify what you feel and eventually to emotionally regulate yourself.
  • Moral – You begin to notice what is perceive as right and wrong.

In infancy, a significant phase for most parents or carers is the terrible twos. To call it the terrible twos is a bit deceptive though, as it starts from around 18 months and can carry on until the infant is 2 and a half years old.

You say ‘No’ often and temper tantrum if you don’t get your way. In the terrible twos you are learning what the boundaries are, what you can get away with and how to regulate your feelings of frustration and anger when you don’t get what you want.

Childhood
Personality begins to develop in childhood, including likes and dislikes. Childhood starts at around 5 years old and ends around 12 years old (its ending being marked by the beginning of puberty – see Adolescence below).

As well as your personality developing, you become much less dependent on your parents or carers for your basic needs. You start structured learning at school, which leads to a more structured way of thinking. But conversely you are able to think abstractly.

You increase the number social relationships you have by making friends. You continue to grow – both physically and intellectually and continue to develop new skills. You may master some of these new skills. You have thing that pique your curiosity and things that don’t. You have passions and interests.

Adolescence
The stage of adolescence or the teenage years starts around 12-13 years old and lasts until around 18-20 years old. The end of childhood and beginning of adolescence is marked by the start of puberty.

In adolescence your body and brain are going through massive changes. These changes mean that you need more sleep and may well be found sleeping in till midday or later.

In the body, high levels of hormones rage creating physical changes, increasing emotional intensity and a fierce need for independence. The emotional intensity explains why you are more likely to be rebellious in your thinking and actions as an adolescent.

If you’re a male physical changes include: body hair grows (public, underarm, facial & legs), voice breaks – becoming deeper, Adam’s apple becomes prominent, acne, penis growth, lowering of testis lower, growing taller and broader.

If you’re female physical changes include: growth of breasts, menstrual cycle, body hair grows (public, underarm & legs), acne, weight gain, change of body shape and growing taller.

In the brain, hormones make you more likely to act on impulse and take risks. This explains why you are more likely to try alcohol and/or drugs in adolescence.

Both the body and brain make you aware of those you feel sexually attracted to. You notice them. You want to get to know them and ultimately you want to have sex with them. You may start to have sexual and/or romantic relationships.

Your thinking is egocentric – you are only or mostly concerned about you. This egocentric thinking explains a lot of your thinking and behaviour including why you are so concerned about how you look.

Puberty takes around 4 years from the early signs to completion. As well as all the puberty changes, you have the pressures of high school including peer groups and exams.

mental-health-wisdom-banner

Early Adulthood
18-40 years old is the Early Adulthood stage of the cycle of life. Adults are physically fully grown and must use the life skills that they acquired in earlier stages to fend for themselves. In these few short years a lot happens in life.

You may move out of home, you may go to college and/or university, you may learn to drive a car, you go out into the world of work and start your career, you may make a commitment to a partner through marriage, you may end a relationship through divorce, you may buy your own home, you may have children of your own, you may travel, you may become more involved in community activities.

You feel enthusiastic about making your mark on the world. You continue to develop your passions and interests. Days, months and years pass quickly by at this stage of your life. You have little time to contemplate your life and the past choices you have made that have lead you to where you are.

Middle Age
Contemplation is the keyword in middle age, which starts around 45 years old till around 65 years old. Physical signs of ageing are present and women will have gone through menopause by the end of this stage. People talk about having a midlife crisis in this stage.

You think about your life and if you are happy with it or not. You may feel that your life is stale and stagnant. This contemplation can cause you to make major changes in your life. However you may be perfectly content with your life and choose to continue on without making any major changes.

In this stage of your life you may need to care for your now elderly parents. You will have attended christenings, birthdays, weddings and funerals. You will have met and know people at all stages of the cycle of life.

Late Adulthood
Retirement from work will have occurred by the time a person reaches late adulthood. Late adulthood is a stage for people aged 65-75 years old. By this point they have got a wealth of wisdom as a result of life experiences.

You physically and mentally begin to slow down. You have great wisdom from a lifetime of experience and regularly replay memories from your past.

End of Life
At the end of life the reflection continues. Most people will be 76+ years old. If people are happy with their life, they will feel satisfaction. However some people may have regrets.

People regret things like: not spending enough time with family and friends, not being the best parent/grandparent that they could have been, not having taken enough risks and playing it safe.

You will think about your life. You will ask yourself if you spent enough time with loved ones, if you did good enough, if you’re happy with your life up to now.

Death
According to The Office of National Statistics the average life expectancy for a man is 79 years old and for a woman 83 years old, so death comes between 79-83 years old for most.

Your family and friends will grief for the loss of you in their lives. Hopefully they will celebrate your life as well.

Rebirth
Rebirth hasn’t been scientifically proven at this point. But several religions and spiritual paths believe in reincarnation or rebirth. This is where you would be reborn either as another human or as an animal after death.

Even more fascinating is that some religions and spiritual paths even believe that it is your choice to be reincarnated or remain on an astral/spiritual/energy-based plane of existence.

The Future
A healthier lifestyle including: a good diet, regular exercise, not smoking, not drinking alcohol, not misusing substances, working/living in better environments with conditions that promote good health; along with ever-improving healthcare and technology will extend the life cycles of current and future people.

This extended life cycle will mean that some of the ages people enter the stated stages in this article will be incorrect in the future.

Blog soon,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:

Book Review: Monster by Michael Grant

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Reviews2 Comments
Monster-Michael-Grant-Book-Cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
Monster is the exciting and explosive first book in a trilogy that will be a sequel series to the superb and super selling Gone Series.

The Gone Series had six books:

  1. Gone which I reviewed here.
  2. Hunger which I reviewed here.
  3. Lies which I reviewed here.
  4. Plague which I reviewed here.
  5. Fear which I reviewed here.
  6. Light which I reviewed here.

In Monster it has been four years since the events at Perdido Beach.

Four years ago, a meteorite hit a Nuclear Power Plant, an invisible dome was created and all the adults disappeared. The children and teenagers that remained trapped inside the dome had a lot to deal with including an alien virus that gave some of them powers. Some used their powers for good and others for selfish or cruel purposes.

Now more pieces from the same meteorite are starting to fall to earth from space.

This time the alien virus make even more dramatic changes to people whom come into contact with it. They are much more powerful than those in the Perdido Beach dome ever were. They will be able to morph into monsters with astonishing powers and then be able to de-morph back into human form. But for each of those infected with the alien virus, one question trumps all others: Will you be a Hero, Villain or Monster?

Most of our main characters are new. Shade Darby saw her mother murdered by Gaia when the Perdido Beach dome came down and barely survived herself. Her father works for the Government studying pieces of the meteorite in space and he has calculated the exact position of the pieces landing.

Shade was powerless when her mother was murdered and is determined never to be so again. In fact, quite the opposite, she wants to gain power to become a hero. Malik Tenerife is in love with Shade, but their relationship ended due to Shade’s obsession with gaining power.

Shade meets Cruz Martinez Rojas at a bus stop. Cruz is a trans character, although physically male, he dresses feminine and feels neither male nor female. Grant explained and dealt with this gender issue expertly. This didn’t come as a surprise, after all The Gone Series had gay, lesbian and bisexual characters.

Justin DeVeere is a promising art student with delusions of grandeur. He is going out with Erin O’Day. Justin comes in contact with one of the pieces of the meteorite and develops powers. In panic, but with some pleasure he makes some mistakes that harm people.

But Justin makes a choice to murder. He decides to name himself Knightmare and tries to make it a persona. He is aiming for people to think of him like The Hulk. Justin is Bruce Banner and Knightmare is the Hulk, something he has no control over. Only he does.

Armo (his nickname, actual name: Aristotle Adamo) is an Adonis, who happens to have Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). He has his whole life a head of him, being just 17 years old. That is until the accident and his nonconsensual exposure to one of the pieces of the meteorite.

Vincent Vu hears voices in his head. He possibly has bipolar or schizophrenia. He is exposed to the largest piece and amount of the meteorite an undergoes the most dramatic change. But does this make him unstoppable?

Dekka Talent makes a welcome return and offers fans of The Gone Series the opportunity to find out what happened to other characters from the series. Tom Peaks from the US Government recruits Dekka to help, but all is not what it seems as Dekka quickly discovers.

Whenever any of the characters use their powers, they are aware of being watched by Dark Watchers. These Dark Watchers appear to be using them as a form of entertainment and love death, destruction and devastation.

The description was superb and brilliant. The plot was action packed and compelled the reader to read on. The pacing was ultra fast-paced.

I would highly recommend Monster to anyone and everyone. It’s a crucial and necessary read for any fan of The Gone Series. Those who haven’t read any of The Gone Series could still pick it up, know what’s happened, understand what’s going on and get full enjoyment from the book.

Review soon,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media: