Quite A Week

Quite A Week

This blog is a labour of love, and it will always be free. Over 1,000 people read every post which is incredible. And if just 100 people donate €2 it means that I’ll be able to continue doing all of this for another year. So if you like the work, it would mean the world to me if you considered making a donation. Thank you to everyone who already has this year. There’s no expectations, as ever, and I hope you have a lovely week. Donate here

There is also now a Thoughts Too Loud Podcast!

It’s been quite a week. If you’ve spent any time online this week you’ve probably sensed an undercurrent of tension. Everyone is at each there’s necks. Arguing tirelessly across platforms to no end. Pointlessly, really, because it doesn’t appear that anyone is open to the possibility of changing their mind, considering new information. So there’s this venomous air to every interaction.

But I won’t go into it. There are enough people giving their thoughts. I wound up on the radio talking about it last week. And afterwards I asked myself, why am I getting involved in this? It has nothing to do with me, and I don’t wish to speak on things I don’t have all the information for.

Ultimately I just want people’s mental health to be okay, regardless if we share opinions or not. I said as much last week and was told by a commenter on TikTok that bringing up mental health when someone is being ridiculed online is manipulative. So there’s no winning no matter what you do, really.

Beyond that, I would recommend watching Adolescence. It’s a bleak watch. It’s not fun. But by God is it an important one. For a long time I have made the point that addressing the male mental health issues that are so pertinent in our society will also help to address the violence against women problem. Because it is unstable, isolated men who are violent. And this show paints the picture of how these situations can happen. It tells us how vulnerable young men are, how disillusioned they can sometimes feel, and how this feeling of not being wanted can fester and distort into something truly dangerous.

Other than that – my new book A BRIEF INHALATION is out in a week. I’ll probably be an absolute pest on socials this week so apologies in advance. But it’s an exciting time, and I hope you’re finding some joy in the chaos that is our planet.

Stay silly,

Daragh