By TheMacaroniPrince.
Without getting into all the political ideologies of my homeland, being raised in rural Northern Ireland set me up for life in a very specific way. We very much did not ask for help, we very much kept problems in house, and no one was to ever know there were cracks at all, never mind how deep. This sort of inbuilt shame to ever having a problem was pervasive in every decision I made honestly up until I was maybe 30? It meant any time I was struggling or facing a brick wall I stood there on my own and waited for the wall to fall down on it’s own when I knew I couldn’t deal with it.
Over the last few years of having my view of the world expanded massively by the internet, and specifically twitch, my brain has started to thankfully get rewired from all of this. I can clearly see injustice where I did not before. I can see how my education both in school and at home lead me to believe things were just the way they were and to accept that, and I can now see how wrong that is. It took me thirty years to realise we don’t have to accept squalor and sadness and deal with it alone. Seeing that has made me so much happier, hopeful and complete a person, and there is little else I want more than for others to see that too.
Earlier this year I took my biggest leap of faith thus far in my life and I asked for help. I had an enormous debt and I deliberated on how to deal with it for months and mentioned it to a bunch of people, saying how I’d like to try and clear it. Two dear friends said two separate things to me, both of which made me realise the power of having a community support you. The first said “you aren’t forcing anyone to give, if they want to support, they will”. The second said “Let us love you. Imagine the joy of seeing someone YOU care about free of burden”. So I did it. I talked about what was wrong, and I asked for help and people assisted me. I am now in a better state of finance and better prepared to take steps to make my life better. I could not have done this without community.
When the idea of a mutual aid was first pitched to me I thought it would be a cool idea, nice to give people a little break when things are tough. It wasn’t until I really got into the weeds of planning it I think I fully grasped what could be done. How much pressure could be lifted. How much joy we could pump into a community that has constant a barrage of negativity hit at them from the news, the government, the people in power of the world.
I’ve seen first hand just how much good community aid can do. I really truly believe we can continue to do that for so many people. I really think if people get behind this, the community we share embraces this, we can make life better for so many people.