Life of Liam

Writing is something I have always enjoyed and, in recent years since starting this blog, it has become an outlet for me to express how I am feeling. In my final years of high school, for assignments, I began writing about issues which were very close to me - in particular, as I grew more comfortable with my sexuality, I used my writing to understand what I was going through and how I came to understand my sexual orientation. I started this blog to provide a public space for me to comment on my life's experiences and what I was making of the world around me. As my blog has grown, writing has become more important to me and has been an essential part of my life as I progress into adulthood. My writings come from a place deep inside and are cathartic in nature - they allow me to expel my (potentially corrosive) thoughts and emotions in a healthy and safe way. Writing allows me to connect and engage with what is happening inside my head, giving me a space to analyse and understan...

The title of this post is a question that I have been asked many times, usually after I have said I was born and grew up in Livingston (a town in Scotland). It is a question that could be rephrased to "what is your ethnic background?" or "where are your parents from?" - though the need for this type of question to be asked at all is questionable in itself, unless it is the topic of conversation already. What I take from this question is "you can't be from Scotland, you're not white" and so I must divulge into the long spiel about my family background to appease their curious mind, after which they seem to switch off. I am mixed race. My mother was born in Singapore and my father was born in Scotland. It is a mix I am proud of, and one which has enabled me to experience so much more in life than many others may not be able to. However, living in a country where you do not exactly look like everyone else will of course lead to these types of que...

September 6th was the three year anniversary of me moving out of home and beginning my first step into adulthood. In 2014, I moved from Livingston to Glasgow. Not too far away from home, but far enough away that I would begin to understand what is was like to live independently. Timehop  is an app which lets you know what you were doing in previous years each day, based on your social media updates. Seeing my previous posts on social media is nostalgic for me but also an awakening reminder of the person I was when I first moved to Glasgow and how much my life has changed since. Timehop serves as a good and a bad reminder of my past. It often reminds me of past events that I have forgotten about, but the memories of those (often petty) tweets or cringey status updates make laugh. Sometimes, however, Timehop reminds me of the hard times in my life and of some of the people who I have met in my life that perhaps didn't treat me right. More often than not, however, Timehop just make...

I have been thinking a lot about social media recently, whilst looking at those around me, and I just cannot ignore how false it all is. I have written about social media before, and will be writing about this topic for my upcoming university dissertation, because it is impossible to ignore. We are living in a real life “Black Mirror” episode. We have become that dystopian society that is described in fictional stories as a warning to us so we do not become mindless robots consumed by technology. We are living our life for social media, for others to see, for the likes and validation. I am guilty of this myself and it is beginning to take its toll on me. This is a topic I feel very strongly about because I see so many around me suffering from different issues and I believe that social media and constant connection to the internet is playing a massive role in these issues. I want to find answers. I want to find explanations. The way people act online compared to real life is very dish...

SPOILER ALERT! This post discusses my experience of playing “Life is Strange” and contains some spoilers as to what happens in the game. If you don’t want to know what happens in the game then don’t read on!! Last week I (finally) downloaded the game series “Life is Strange”. In a nutshell, the game follows the story of Max, who discovers her ability to turn back time after she witnesses the murder of her childhood best friend, Chloe. In the the game, you have the responsibility of making decisions which can have small or large impacts on what happens throughout the game and in the future. The butterfly effect and chaos theory are very strong themes throughout the game which really makes you think about how such small choices or events throughout your life can lead to a chain reaction that results in something very significant. I would rate the game a solid 8/10 with minor improvements being better graphics and animations, and also smoother gameplay. The story of the game was enthr...

Note from Liam:  an edited version of this post has been included on The Glasgow Guardian's (University of Glasgow student newspaper) website as part of their LGBT History Month 2018 coverage. You can see that post  here . The phrase "coming out of the closet" is a metaphor largely associated with someone disclosing their sexuality to someone else. I am not a huge advocate for "coming out" and making a big deal about not being straight. For me, sexuality is another part of your individuality and identity which does not require validation from others. However, because we live in a heteronormative society, which likes to put labels on things and have out-of-the-norm things overtly expressed, then "coming out" has become something which most LGBT people will experience at some point in their life. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a German gay rights activist, introduced the idea of coming out in 1869 as a means of emancipation. In a time where the LGBT communit...

By definition, "heteronormativity" can be seen as "the belief that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (male and female) with natural roles in life. It assumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or only norm, and states that sexual and marital relations are most (or only) fitting between people of opposite sexes. Consequently, a "heteronormative" view is one that involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender identity and gender roles." Heteronormativity is something which has been present in society for a very long time. In my opinion, a lot of heteronormative behaviour is not done with malicious intent but I believe that, as society is becoming more accepting and open to many concepts surrounding what it means to be human, then perhaps these heteronormative views (which have been ingrained  into society over generations) need to be reevaluated. Progress takes time, and now is that time. As stated in the ...

It's okay that you fell off the bike because learning is a long process. Just get back on and try again. It's okay that you felt embarrassed when you tripped up in the playground in front of everyone because accidents happen to everyone, at least you weren't badly hurt. It's okay that you are not enjoying a new pastime because we need to try new things in order to find out what we like and what we don't. You tried it and you tried your best - that's all that matters. It's okay that you sometimes find it hard to socialise and make friends because social skills can take time to develop for some people, I am still learning today. It's okay that you sometimes feel like there is nobody to turn to because dealing with your own mind can be the hardest part of being human, but we must be open to letting others in. Together we are stronger. It's okay that nothing makes any sense right now because it will all fall into place eventually. ...

"Now, are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then we will begin." Remember that episode of Doctor Who (back when the series was still watchable and David Tennant was the Doctor) when The Wire sucked off the faces of the residents through the television and trapped them within the screen leaving their bodies as lifeless and faceless beings? Well, I believe that the episode predicted the future of society but, rather than television, it is our phones that have sucked up every morsel of our lives, personality, and humanity. We have become almost faceless and soulless beings in real life who can only exist or survive through a screen on social media, as if trapped by some external force. The big phenomenon is that the majority of us cannot seem to live our daily lives or do basic tasks without first consulting our phones. It seems to have been ingrained into our generation that Social Media and our phones are more important than real life and spending real moments with re...

Welcome to social media, Where likes have become a currency, More likes, more success, more money. The elite stay in the penthouses Built upon a foundation of filters, Held up by beams of likes, egotism and narcissism. In the gutters, Those without the look fail To even reach numbered status, And are instead plagued With the embarrassment of named followers. Less personal has become more successful. Selfies, statuses, updates. Every moment of every life, Recorded for all to see. Time is dying, moments are passing. Apps live and remember for us. Living life through a screen, Experiencing precious moments in binary, Falsifying reality to experience "real life" Those who don't conform don't belong, We are becoming robots of the web, The black widow feeding off our souls. Our addiction fuels hers, An endless cycle, Likely to end in destruction.

This post looks at the Paris terrorist attacks and my views on the aftermath of it. Throughout writing this post, my opinions have swayed vastly and I have found the post has taken the form of a conversation/debate with myself – you can very clearly see my thought process changing a lot throughout this piece of writing. I don’t think any point can ever 100% correct because the topic is so controversial and sensitive but the discussion certainly opens up some points to be considered or to be looked into – enjoy! On the evening of Friday 13 th November, Paris was brought to a standstill as a series of coordinated attacks were carried out which resulted in the death of around 130 innocent civilians who were simply enjoying a Friday night out. The attacks were claimed responsibility for by the extremist group ISIS who claimed the attacks were in retaliation to French attacks on ISIS in Syria and Iraq. And how did the French government respond? They bombed Syria, by targeting the ...

A subject that has been brewing slowly since the beginning of social media is the negative impacts it has. Australian model  Essena  O’Neil, who was very active on social media has made a video to tell the world why she is quitting social media (this video has since been removed along with her YouTube account. It all basically comes down to the issue that it is all fake. She describes how a simple looking Instagram post would have taken hours to shoot to determine the ‘correct’ pose and she would be told to post it at a certain time on a certain day. From that point of view, when your personal life is determined by a mathematical equation as to when you’ll get the most likes or the most public coverage then your life becomes surrounded in numbers – which was another point O’Neill made in her video. Numbers. They are the crux of social media, from the time you post the photo, status, video  etc.  to get most likes to how many likes you actually get. And in the end...