I wrote something a little while ago about how words matter, and the damage they can do.

I’m a copywriter, I’m a fine art graduate with a post-grad in media and cultural studies (and I also studied philosophy for fun). My dad’s a writer, I read a lot, I spend far too much time online. Of course I think words matter.

And yet. I’ve just had my (leaky) roof replaced and our roofer is the stereotypical tradesperson – middle-aged, white, working class, super chatty. He embodies the target audience for all things right wing. He told my partner the other day that one of the boys on his scaffolding crew is trans. No judgement, no prejudice, just curiosity mixed in with admiration. It was a *palpable* relief to hear someone – in real life – being so, well, normal. Human. No soundbites, no hashtag politics, no algorithms or echo chamber propaganda.

I would like to believe that people aren’t born bigoted – we need to be manipulated into hating each other. So words really do matter. But maybe we’re not all as easy to manipulate as it would appear (if you spend as much time online as I do).

So with that, I’m getting offline for the summer holidays! For a social media detox, a change of perspective… and to focus on splitting my time between work and my wonderful little whirlwinds.

See you all in September 🖖