“It looks like the worlds gone mad!”

This is an introduction to my regular blog on the Healthy Life Essex website: I hope you enjoy it and check in on a regular basis to read my musings. It will always be featured in my personal category: ‘Eileen Peck – Looks like the worlds gone mad,’ but will also feature in topic specific categories too. (My blogs will normally be shared in the HLE newsletter, so do register if you haven’t already done do.)

But who am I, and what will I be talking about?

I guess I’m not alone in thinking that the world seems to be in a mess.  We are daily confronted with news of gloom and doom.  Some time ago I read George Marshall’s book ‘Don’t Even Think About It; Why our Brains are wired not to think about climate change’ and I decided that I would think about it. And, of course, my thinking took me way beyond climate change. My blog is the result of my thinking, my reading and my discussions with the many interesting people I’ve met along the way.  My struggle to understand our world has taken me to dark and painful places but I do hope you’ll stay with me because I’ve had some surprises which have shone a light and have given me hope for the future..

I am Eileen Peck

You might be wondering – as am I! – what gives my opinion any credibility? I’m not an expert, a politician or an economist but I’ve always been politically interested and sometimes active.

My life has spanned the second half of the 20th Century through the early decades of our new century. From my cosy corner of South East England, I’ve witnessed the birth and decline of the welfare state in the UK, the death of the Stalinist state in the USSR and the political turmoil which led to Brexit and Trump.I feel a need to understand! .

I’m on a steep learning curve. Because the world seems to have gone mad, I’m searching for answers to some difficult questions: ‘What’s gone wrong in our world?’ and ‘What can we do to bring us to a better future?’ My search has brought some surprises – some of which seem more like secrets – but it has taken me to a place of hope. An increasing number of people have a vision of a better world and are coming together to find a way to get us there. I’m beginning to feel uplifted!

As I began to uncover some of the workings of life 21st century style I’ve felt an increasing sense of urgency as events have threatened to overwhelm me. Confusion has sometimes set in and I’ve often wandered down paths difficult to understand … the workings of financial services …the threat of information technology to our democracy … the rise of populism.

I’ve had to comfort myself with the knowledge that I am not alone in finding these tangled webs difficult and that some questions will remain unanswered.

I’m hoping that by publishing my musings I’ll be encouraged by your comments (even those which disagree with me!) and that I can spread the feeling of hope for the future which I’m beginning to feel.

I write as a ‘non-expert’ and I’m hoping that your comments will help me to see whether the insights I’ve gained make sense, whether the conclusions stack up and whether it’s realistic for me to start feeling hopeful about the future.

So please do comment and share my blogs. Because together, we need to start making this world a better place for us and, perhaps even more importantly, for future generations.