The Quickening in the belly of Politics....at Imbolc

Imbolc, in the Celtic seasonal calendar marked the beginning of the lambing season and signaled the beginning of Spring and the stirrings of new life. It is Feile Brighde, the 'quickening of the year'. The original word Imbolg means 'in the belly', and therein you have the underlying energy. All is pregnant and expectant - and only just visible if at all, like the gentle curve of a 'just-showing' pregnancy. It is the promise of renewal, of hidden potential, of earth awakening and life-force stirring. Here is hope. We welcome the growth of the returning light and witness Life's insatiable appetite for rebirth.The quickening in the belly of PoliticsYhis time last year  I attended an interview with one of my clients for his PIP assessment. While there I heard a story that chilled me to the bone. I heard of a man who was paralised totally below the neck. He described himself as a “ a head on a corpse in a bed ” . Despite adequate and voluminous medical support the DWP decided to send a medical professional out to assess him to see if it was true. If we have come to this point where we no longer believe the Doctors, Nurses and Therapists who support so many people then we have become a poor and cruel society.

Amongst the hope of the last few days there was sadness yesterday.  Last year  friend was sectioned I spoke to them yesterday afternoon they were stunned, frightened. The 28 day sectioning had taken from them all their rights, their independence and self esteem. My friend is eccentric, whimsical, quirky but kind, perhaps obsessive at times but very bright and now is made powerless. We need a social model for mental health more than ever and we must challenge the dominance of the medical model that dominates in Wales. Our mental health is a metaphor, a simile a metonymy of the way we live , think and be. We should celebrate our diversity and our selves and not repress and control those who both rebel against conformity and prejudice.

The quickening of politics begins ...In Berkeley students return to the protest after 50 years, in Rumania 150,000 people protest against government corruption ...The quickening begins .....As we head to Brexit I can see the day congratulations when the Brexiteers lies will be as listed as Tony Blair was for Iraq. The lies of Farage, Grove and Johnson will be revealed The Trump effect takes hold across the world. I am told that translators across the world cannot translate his words adequately. Not because of its nuances, metaphors and analogies but because of its lack. It's sub text us non existent it's simply prejudice, half baked ideas and the worst aspects of urban myths. This this is the dominance of the stupid white male , the belief that all politics is merely a business transaction and fear of the other. But the quickening is coming... We see an increase of anti-Semitism ..The racists and anti semites are saying openly what was kept quiet..We see the politics of the abject ..But even as this happens many see through the false claims and the simple solutions ..The day will come when today's Daily Mail headline Betrayal will be seen in the light of the Nazis use of the term November Criminals ....But the quickening in politics is coming...