Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all

"She crept slowly up the ladder as she ascended into the attic. She had always been fearful of heights; but only the ones she could hurt herself from. Planes, observations towers... they were all fine - you'd just plain die and not feel the splat. But a ladder, a chair - well, you could break a hip, and then you'd have to live with the consequences.

"As she climbed the last rung and breathed a sigh of relief having cheated injury once more, she fumbled for her phone and cast a very dim, synthetic light over the contents. Memories from university, from her travels abroad... mementos scattered from her previous lives. Once she had appraised all of the emotional baggage, she moved with a certainty to the back of the attic, searching until she clapped eyes on what she had come for. 

"Turning the object over in her hands, it felt familiar, yet different all the same. Perhaps it was larger than she remembered? Maybe, but handling it made her feel more confident, and as she blew the thick layer of dust off the top, she regarded the item with a wry smile, thinking that the time had finally come to step onto her soapbox once again."

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So, I'm blogging again. It's taken me approximately six years to get the bug back, but I'm here. I don't make promises anymore about how frequently I will write, or indeed what I will write about. If I have learnt anything about blogging, the overwhelming pressure of trying to write something when the inspiration isn't there is too much pressure, which takes the joy out of it. I want to find joy in writing again, hence this new effort.

Since I last blogged, I do feel the world is a very different place. Whereas before, where I felt pretty comfortable in writing anything I wanted, there really is an onus nowadays to be informed, or 'woke' as the young people call it. I know that sometimes (just very occasionally), I get things wrong and with this blog, one of my goals is to become more educated in the things I write about. What I will say is that whilst I'm willing to re-evaluate my opinions, I make no apologies for them - they are mine. They are a product of my childhood, my experiences and my beliefs. I welcome comment, I welcome challenge - I don't tolerate abuse.

Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, I am genuinely excited to start blogging again. I have a few topics floating around in my head already that I want to explore - and where possible, I want this to be a light-hearted space (as it should be) that I hope you enjoy too.

So, now that I've revived my soapbox, where should I start?

The title of the blog is a quote from Philip Pullman.