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The #Speakingout issue on twitter has forced me to reflect on my own experience and actions. I believe that this is a problem for all men to solve and it begins with a discussion of do's and don'ts.

On approach to my 13th birthday I had started to become rebellious, I was drinking, smoking and doing soft drugs (weed). I attended a house party at which I became incredibly drunk to the point where I couldn’t get off the couch. One of the girls, a few years older than me, knowing I was a virgin decided to take off my trousers and boxers – I remember thinking that it was wrong, we were in the…

We humans are curious creatures, since we first stood on two legs we’ve advanced our species through new ideas and understanding. We’ve explored the world, found countless new species, made huge breakthroughs in science, medicine, engineering, psychology, sociology and more. Yet at every turn, there were doubters, there were those that would not, could not accept these new ideas, often wilfully…

An outpouring of some of my thoughts on the current situation.

We are living in the midst of a world-wide pandemic, it has exposed our culture’s most negative aspects and weaknesses. We have fake news (I use this unironically), presenteeism, refusal to listen to experts, economy over lives and many failing to follow simple instructions of “stay home”, “social distance”, “follow the one way…

May You Live In Interesting Times.

This is a Chinese curse (a little on the nose for current events) that is often misused by westerners as a blessing. Interesting times tend to come with a lot of strife, drama and heartache.

This year (2020 for those from the future) we started with the threat of WWIII, half the continent of Australia on fire, then Britain entered in to the transition periodto leave the world largest single…

It’s not business as usual.

We’ve been in lock down for a little over 4 weeks and the weather is getting better. This means people are getting agitated, they want to enjoy the sun and are tired of social distancing. They’re starting to get relaxed with it, I’ve reminded countless people in supermarkets about social distancing when they get too close to me and I’m consistently bringing it up at work as my colleagues fail to…

It's easy for me to understand why Phillip Schofield took most of his life to come out - it took me most of my adult life to admit my sexuality. Our society still pressures people to repress who they are, it's time to end it.

This week Phillip Schofield came out, he announced social media before a segment was dedicated to it on This Morning on ITV. I have seen mostly positive reports praising his braveness as well as a huge amount of support for his wife – unfortunately this comes with some amount of anger at how he has lied about his sexuality for their entire marriage. Although he has spoken little of why he hid…

I went to see Tim Minchin a few months ago on his first tour for many years. I’ve always agreed with Tim’s point of view whilst keeping a healthy resentment of his pretentiousness – not that I’m not pretentious. However, he said something that recently has been bouncing around in my head screaming at me as I watch the exact phenomenon play out. He suggested the the political right have their shit…

Selfish - I'm not special in this, I don't intend to sit here on my high podium telling those beneath me how awful they are. I'm just as bad.

We are a selfish society. We don’t like to think about ourselves as selfish but we are. You may believe yourself to be entirely selfless but I think if we’re honest, 99% of us would be able to identify many times where we’ve been selfish. I’m not talking about taking the last biscuit without offering it to others or using all the hot water when having a relaxing shower – I’m talking about actions…

Whether its a flippant remark to your friend or a genuine attack on someone’s character, words matter. We live in a society that somehow manages to hold two incompatible views “The pen is mightier than the sword” and “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” I grew up hearing both of these phrases and not paying any mind to the cognitive dissonance in holding on to…

I think it’s incredibly important to have friends or family that you can go to anytime you’re struggling or just need to blow off steam. Often times just saying the issue out loud can alleviate the burden it has put on you – often when I say out loud the issue that is bothering me, I realise how irrational or stupid I’m being by holding on to it, articulating it shows how it often doesn’t make…

My Dad is a Racist. I find it very difficult to maintain a relationship with him knowing his hard right wing attitudes.

I am not. I am finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile my father’s opinions and beliefs with my own.

Since my parents separated shortly after I turned 13 I’ve found my relationship with my father strained. I believe that strain to be one sided, I don’t believe my father has any issues with me, certainly none that he is aware of.

My parents relationship was certainly tense, and more…