Life of Liam

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...

As the days get closer to Glasgow Pride, I find myself reflecting on my own sexuality and how much life has changed for me in the past few years. To make a long story short, my personal experience with being gay is not exciting, or tragic, or painful. From personal memory, I realised I was gay over a period of time and there was no one moment where I had a gay epiphany and Lady Gaga came down on a rainbow unicorn to throw glitter over me (although that would be awesome). But I suppose my story is still important to tell because it is important for younger LGBT people to understand that being LGBT does not have to be a big or dramatic realisation. Life for an LGBT person does not have to be a struggle and you are not always going to be persecuted for it. I became more comfortable with being gay as I grew older, but there was a period of time when I thought I would grow up, have a wife and kids and live in a perfect white picket fenced house in a nice neighbourhood. That was most lik...

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...