The pinnacle of life.

For the longest time, I’ve sat looking at the blank page, but being unable to figure out what it was I wanted to say. Under lockdown, I have become numb to creation, ignoring the rolling news coverage and the contemporary situation, instead indulging in menial tasks and endlessly scrolling on social media. It particularly hit me on Wednesday, the day after I turned twenty-eight.

Because once again, we find ourselves in a prolonged period of unknowing. It’s become a staple of my life for the past year or so. From leaving my previous company with no job to go to, to getting offered a job with a political party and then dealing with a snap-European election, a snap-General and now lockdown, my twenty-seventh year was characterised by not knowing what was going to happen next.

This is, on the one hand, a complete exhilaration. You’re constantly adapting, pushing yourself to new feats you never thought possible, and working relentlessly as curve balls are thrown in every direction, all with the aim of success.

On the other though, there is significant cost. The energy it takes to constantly reevaluate and the inability to plan. The constant need for adaptation required so that each and every time someone moves the goal posts the campaigns didn’t sink.

So in reality, whilst I’d love to celebrate a year that was, all things considered, arguably the most fundamental to my very being so far, I am in fact tired and have been for quite a lot of the past twelve months.

That isn’t to say that the continued effect that these unknown times hasn’t been worth it – it most definitely has! I’ve been able to lead and fight campaigns that have won, and won significantly. I’ve visited places I never thought I’d see. I’ve spent time with friends and family. I’ve brought people together to celebrate pride in a way that I had never imagined possible.

When I was younger I always wondered where I’d be at this age, as if twenty-seven was the pinnacle of life. Greats had created, lived and passed by this age, and how would I measure up against them.

But, I realise now, life is incomparable. With its numerous surprises, let’s see what the next three-hundred-and-sixty-five days bring.

I will run. I will march. I will fight.