An Indomitable Spirit

I've been thinking about how to write this post for a few days now. How to sum up 2016? Urrrghhh! Just about does it.

"February 2016: MSF teams in Malakal in Souther Sudan worked through the nights of 17 and 18 February to treat the injured after fighting erupted in the UN compound. Much of the compound was destroyed and 18 people were killed, including two South Sudanese MSF staff members.""February 2016: MSF teams in Malakal in Souther Sudan worked through the nights of 17 and 18 February to treat the injured after fighting erupted in the UN compound. Much of the compound was destroyed and 18 people were killed, including two South Sudanese MSF staff members."

A year of death, destruction, radicalisation and (it felt like) the total loss of rational thought. As one friend lamented, it was so shocking because values which once were mainstream now seem to stand to the far left. In their place, facist values that were once reserved for teenage football hoolagans appear to have moved to the centre of politics. “It is us who are in the minority now, my friend”.

So, it appears that 2016 was the year that I became a hippy.

Maybe I always did have theatrical, left wing, tendencies. That’s me dressed as the greenshouse effect with Powerful Princess Polution to my right. How many kids in the mid 80s went to village fates in rural Berkshire dressed as anti global warming propaganda? Not many, I can tell you. Needless to say that a girl dressed as a princess won the prize for the best costume (shocking - I know!).

If you click over to Medecins San Frontiers' 2016 photo story (and please please do) you will see that that they want you to know that amongst the unfathomable pain there is always compassion and courage - that 'the indomitable spirit of survival and caring has prevailed in 2016'.

So, to share my newly named hippy values of compassion, coeurage*, vulnerability**, gratitude and ya know, universal oneness, here are some good news stories from December:

1. A cleaner in Saudi Arabia was showered with gifts after being mocked on social media after photos of him staring at a jewelry shop display went viral.

2. A German Septuagenarian has been fighting hate with a spray can for 30 years now. "I'm really concerned by this hate propaganda. And I want to take a stand," she tells CNN. "Not just hollow words. But to do something. I could look at that swastika and "Nazi Kiez" graffiti and say 'oh, that's awful' and walk by. But no one would dare to do anything. Well, I don't want to wait for someone else to do something about it."

3. Here are eight ways to say "I love you" in dog language.

4. Since election day in America, more than 4.5 thousand woman have signed up with She Should Run, a movement working to create a culture that inspires women and girls to aspire towards public leadership.

5. After France banned supermarkets throwing away unwanted food in 2016, action to curb food waste has accelerated across Europe. In July, MEPs voted by 600 to 48 in favour of new laws to end unfair supermarket trading practices that lead to overproduction and waste. The European Parliament has also called for binding legislation to halve food waste in Europe by 2030.

6. People are hanging undergarments in the streets of Johannesburg to call for change. Using donated pairs of panties through the #SasDirtyLaundry hashtag, a Facebook page, and collection centers across Johannesburg, Jenny Nijenhuis and Nondumiso Msimanga created a 4,000-foot-long washing line installation that displayed 3,600 pairs of panties, the approximate number of rapes that occur on a daily basis.

7. Here are 23 pictures of heart warming things that happened in 2016.

8. This is what a happy donkey looks like. During a storm in Killorglin, Ireland, a donkey was caught up in floodwaters that nearly drowned him. But when a kind civilian stepped in to save the poor animal with a life ring and a motorboat, the donkey showed his appreciation with a big, toothy smile.

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*Coeurage - I made that word up. I think it summarises this definition really well: “Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant “To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.” Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences – good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as “ordinary courage”.” - Brene Brown.

** “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” - Brene Brown.