It has been a long-held belief of mine that new year resolutions are pointless, setting you up for an annual fall, making January and February even more miserable by highlighting the fact that you have no willpower and are a big dumb loser. We’ve all done it, pledging to exercise more, eat less meat, understand grime, learn the seagulls. Don’t even get me started on dry January – that’s just for alcoholics.
So, this year I’m not making any promises that I can’t keep. I know my limitations. I’m happy to set achievable targets, the ones that I can hit without even trying. Don’t start supporting Sunderland. Don’t watch Mrs Brown’s Boys. Don’t start a blog. These are easy, ingrained. They are lines of code in my DNA.
Having stated that you might reasonably now ask, what the hell am I doing starting a blog, like I’ve just dived into a DeLorean being shot at by Libyans, hit 88mph and gone back in time to the heady days of 2003. Honestly, I am asking myself the same question. 2003 was all Shania Twain and Ronaldo joining Man U for the first time. And everyone had a blog. And none of these things had anything to do with me.
But, the past two years have been rather rubbish, as some of you may have noticed. The pandemic is more rampant than ever, politicians continuing to laugh in our faces while doing whatever the hell they like, and eco-anxiety is rife. Social media is so awash with negativity, hate and conspiracy theories that I can’t even bring myself to dip into it most days. I have this feeling that what some people might like is a dose of positivity now and again. Just a short read of something nice and uplifting about birds. A heart cockle warmer so to speak, with absolutely no negativity. So, tah-dah! Welcome to the Golden Grenades Collective blog! The plan is this: anyone who wants to contribute can submit a short article via our contact page and if we like it, it will be published on the blog page.
The rules are very simple. It must be:
- About birds.
- Uplifting and positive (it’s fine to touch upon the challenges birds face, but please don’t focus on them).
- That’s it.
Some suggested topics might be bird folklore (we love stories about why birds were thought to be devils, suckle goats and the like – more of this please!), why a specific bird species is your favourite, an amazing trip/rare bird found etc. “When Auntie Mable was Attacked by Coots” is highly likely to be published whilst “I Dipped the Belted Kingfisher Six Times and I Hate Myself” isn’t.
Now here’s the best bit. If you write for us and get two or more blog posts published you get a free enamel CCG members badge! Pin it to your hat or lapel to show that you are awesome and want to share your love of birds with everyone and anyone. These pins of glory will only be given to writers of blogs or guests on the podcast, so get your pens out people! This blog will live or die depending on your input, so do please get in touch. Writing a blog post might even be the positive distraction from doom-scrolling social media that you didn’t know you needed! Don’t let me have accidentally created a resolution for myself that I can’t achieve all over again!
Who’s in?
Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year,
Photo credit: “Peregrine Falcon” by Guy Frankland is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
