Self-ish Thinking
2016 has truly been a sobering year. But for me, this has meaning beyond the standard aphorism - 2016 was a sobering year, with the added kicker that I hadn’t even realised I had been drunk. Allow me to explain… [WARNING: This post deals with personal death and a whole load of other features of 2016 that - frankly - have no right to be ruining your Christmas spirit.] - One of my favourite tropes in films and books is the ‘Loss of Innocence’. Off the top of my head, Almost Famous, the Chronicles of Narnia, are two examples that deal with that emotional transition. This typically takes the form of the beginnings of sexual discovery, or the realisation of responsibilities that you previously never had. I guess ordinarily this lasts into your twenties by which point you have been given most of the traditional ‘adult’ education you need - certainly from an academic point of view [bar further education], but also from a social ‘finding your feet’ perspective, an