Beth writes

Tag: writing

  • Fighting the flames of hate

    Photograph of the author, Beth Birley
    This is me

    Watching all the hate and division around migrants takes me back to my youth and one of my greatest friends. Why am I telling this? I hope to show a different perspective.

    I grew up in an insular community, where the majority of people were white British and working class. So, I can still remember when I was 7 and a middle eastern family with three children moved in.

    Those kids were sent to the same primary school as me, and the boy was in the same class. This wasn’t a bad school, but it certainly had a lot of rough kids.

    Now, kids can sometimes repeat racist language because they hear it on telly or at home. You can imagine how some of the other kids reacted to these newcomers, I expect. Had it not been for my parent’s insistence that I should be his friend; I’d have joined the racist taunts.

    This kid got a lot of that and often answered with his fists landing him in trouble. But there was a place where he wasn’t being picked on, and that was our house.

    And we became really good friends who had each other’s backs and were always doing things together. The two of us were often up to some mischief.

    I was a small, nerdy kid who struggled with sports, and easy prey to a lot of school bullies.
    In fact, when I was 10, there was a particularly vile bully making my life hell.
    This friend would respond by attacking back. At the time I was a library assistant and used to let him hide from the mob there sometimes. I saw the hate and racism he got in that community second hand.

    Unfortunately, we were deliberately split up in secondary school, so our friendship wasn’t so strong. I watched him join the rebels on the school bus while I was trying to be a good kid.

    We parted ways after secondary school. I found out years later he had mental health problems and committed suicide through a note in the local paper. Could I have prevented it if I was still around?
    I like to think he could have talked to me in the dark times.

    What remains is a memory of when I witnessed what hate and intolerance can do.

  • A Look at Allan Ahlberg and Children’s Books

    Little boy sits in a tent reading a story
    Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels.com

    “In a dark, dark town there was a dark, dark street
    and in the dark, dark street there was a dark, dark house,
    and in the dark, dark house there were some dark, dark stairs
    and down the dark, dark stairs there was a dark, dark cellar
    and in the dark dark cellar….

    Three skeletons lived! ” – Funny Bones, Allan Ahlberg

    If you grew up in the 80’s and early 90’s there wasn’t much choice in children’s books. One of the big names there was Allan Ahlberg, who died this week.

    Allan and his first wife, Janet, created Happy Families, Funny Bones, and Please Mrs. Butler. And let’s not forget The Jolly Postman either. These were school staples in my childhood.

    The rhymes, stories, and poems had children giggling and engaged with beautiful pictures and smashing tales.

    The question is though, have they stood the test of time?

    In my opinion, while not overly diverse, these stories still can be found in many a library, and bookstore.

    Let me know your favorite in the comments?

  • Beth tells all – five things that shaped my life

    girl in pastel dress with hairbow sits on floor

    Okay, this won’t be telling all but I hope some will find out more about me I think. Here come five things that shaped my life.

    1. As a child I read a lot of books and was always imagining. Books were like a lifeline for me, where I could escape on magical adventures. I was always having ideas for poems, stories, songs and plays in my head. So that is where I got my love of writing from.
    2. When I was 15, I was in intensive care on life support for 2 months. It took some work to get the images and sounds of the machines out of my head. I turned the trauma into an art piece at university – for which I got a B.
    3. I only passed my GCSE’s with 3 c’s – and got E’s for maths and science having to resit. The rest of my grades were between C and E. And I scraped through my university degree with a 2-2. So while the others were celebrating their exam results, it was harder for me. How did this shape me? It reinforced my ideas of what I was good at, and what not so.
    4. Having to face a lot of social rejection and bullying has made me more adamant to fight this. I have been quite vocal for disability and lgbtq inclusion, and challenging hate during my life.
    5. When I was 13 I found a local am dram group and joined for the pantomime. Acting has always been something I absolutely love. What a surprise I got with a birthday in pantomime week though. I got pulled back on for the birthday song.

  • The Ship Magic – Part 1

    Decorative art of a ship at sea

    This is the first part of what I hope will be a beautiful story.

    My name be Mary Carr, and am a sailor on the ship Magic, finest vessel that ever was.
    It roams the oceans and seas paying where needed but working as a cooperative.
    There be no captains on us, except we are all our own.
    And our duty? We protect those in need where we find them, and challenge the authorities that persecute and harm.

    I first came upon the crew as an poor and starving orphan on the harbor quarter of a dirty city.
    It was a cold night, with winds screaming through the sails, and a thick fog rising from the waters.
    I couldn’t see a lantern or person around as I huddled under a ragged blanket on the docks. It felt far better out here than returning to the orphanage empty handed.

    The docks had always been my hang out. Sometimes they were a good way for a girl to earn a coin. To add to this many of the sailors knew me well enough to not abuse my trust. In fact, some thought of me as their family. But these were hard working men, and when drunk you might see another side to them.

    That night, as I heard the clock bell ring off our great cathedral I felt someone was watching me.
    “Who is there?” I called.
    No one answered
    “I’ve got a dagger in my pocket and I know how to use it” I lied. I stood up now, clenching my fists and standing, ready to fight.

    After a second, I heard the kindest voice quite close to where I was taking cover.

    “I believe you have such a thing, but I mean you no harm”.

    “I can’t see you” I replied, “Let me see your face.”

    “My face? Of course child, but then you would tell others of me. Although I am a kind soul who seeks to help those in need, I must be careful. There are many powerful men who would harm me” they said and stepped closer.

    I saw in front of me a strong woman with a kind expression. Most important of all she had eyes that seemed to stare into my soul

    “We have come to help you and offer escape but it must be quick” she said. “Our crew shall be gone by dawn to escape those who harm us.”

    “Gone where?”
    “To find others in need. I promise you will not be harmed if you choose to come.”
    I thought this over a second as she scanned the warehouses for any strangers.
    “If I do not come, what will happen to me?”
    “The harbor master would torture you to find information on me. Is that a better way?”

    I knew the harbor master’s cruelty well, though he often left me alone. That aided the choice which changed my life.
    “I am coming” I said.
    She held out a hand which I took, then led me down to the water’s edge.
    Just then the moon shone for a second and fog parted. That was the time I first saw the finest sailing vessel ever, and it had arrived by magic.

    Lifting me up easily as a little doll, the lady placed me on board before jumping after.
    “We have our charge” she called to the others, “Now let us be gone.”

    What happens next? Watch this space


  • We hold these truths to be certain

    Daily writing prompt
    List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.
    View all responses
    Photograph of the author, Beth Birley
    This is me

    There’s a lot of things people are certain about, am I right?

    Sometimes we think history happened one way, then we find other evidence.

    So here are my 10 certainties in life

    1. My first certainty is I don’t know everything, and hardly anybody could do. It makes us curious to find the answers we don’t yet know.
    2. Dinosaurs once walked the earth
    3. The sun rises and sets each day
    4. When you travel outside your own town you will meet others who are different to you
    5. Disabled lives matter- and work is needed to help disabled people
    6. Superman has always been woke and diverse. You just have to look at the older posters to see the evidence.
    7. Everyone deserves equal rights to clean water, safe housing, good healthcare etc.
    8. Change and revolution takes work, and often people won’t like it.
    9. That I had a near death experience at 15 and was in intensive care for 2 months.
    10. Donald Trump’s name is in the Epstein files – no wonder he is trying to hide it.

  • Overcoming Shadow Thoughts: A Guide to Resilience

    Overcoming Shadow Thoughts: A Guide to Resilience

    Decorative image representing a thought
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    That sounds like a hero’s quest, am I right? … it is one we can all do though. You see, am referring to the shadow thoughts/ or what Action for Happiness call thinking traps, which affect our resilience.

    Decorative image of letters spelling out anxiety
    Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

    What does that mean? It refers to thinking patterns that leave us feeling hopeless, worthless or, despairing. When they grab hold we can feel there’s no way out, so let’s look at them more.

    One I personally battle with is a feeling that I will always be alone. It is very far from reality, but in my head it cries out. When am calm though, I can show evidence which contradicts it.

    Action for Happiness list the main thinking traps as

    • Blaming ourselves – believing that everything is our fault
    • Believing this is permanent – feeling that what is going on can’t be changed
    • Believing it will affect other areas of our life – If a problem is impacting one area, there is a fear it will spread to others
    • Blaming others – believing that others are causing us problems or difficulties
    • Black or white viewpoint – interpreting events as all bad, or all good, no in between
    • Mind-reading – assuming we know what others are thinking or feeling
    • Mislabeling – believing that we or others are one thing on the basis of a single or narrow situation.
    • Shoulds – having a fixed ideal on what should happen, or what you should have
    • Magnifying or minimizing – overplaying or underplaying what something means, how important it is or how likely it will happen.
    • Seeing our emotions as truth – believing all emotions are a true representation of what is happening.
    • Catastrophizing – believing the worst will happen even if it may not do.
    graphic image of a rainbow in the clouds

    How many of those have you felt? If you are like me quite a few but all is not lost. We can beat these traps without bloodshed.

    When you feel those things, try to write down all the evidence which contradicts them.

    So, let’s go back to my case which I mentioned at the top. My main contradictory evidence is that I have a supportive family, other people who value me. I also have had people who wanted to date me, and can go out to find other social groups. Further evidence is my virtual friends on social media. They are the ones I don’t see often (or at all).
    And finally, someone else is always going through a similar journey so we are never truly alone.

    When you feel those thoughts try to challenge them by yourself, or with others. There is no shame in asking for help.

  • What’s so amazing about words?

    A notepad with two pencils on a pink background.
    Photo by Mike Murray on Pexels.com

    Before we talk more on fonts, type color, or pictures let’s talk about words. People use words quite a lot. We use them in talking, writing, reading, listening and thinking.

    An open book with hard to decipher writing with other books behind.

    Here is an example of how not to use words well… 

    Have you ever been in a class and felt the teacher was droning on and you didn’t understand? I know for me my mind will start to wander after a few minutes. I don’t mean this to happen but when classes or meetings aren’t interacting this is what happens. How much of the lesson do you think am going to remember?

    A bored child at school stares into space
    Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

    Even when things are written down, they don’t make sense sometimes. The sentence and paragraphs structures aren’t right, or there are a lot of words we don’t understand.

    A man struggling to read information on his laptop.
    Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Pexels.com

    In all our communications throughout life, we are sending or receiving a message from someone else.

    We already looked at what happens when someone doesn’t understand. To make this easier our communications should be

    • Clear – the message should be easy for the audience to follow.
    • Concise – This means being brief and to the point. We do this through keeping our sentences short and splitting different areas into paragraphs.
    • Easy to understand – getting its meaning across to others

    Here are two examples, one follows these rules so let’s see if you can spot which.

    1st) “Due to the supermarket not having what you needed, I couldn’t get your shopping.”
    2nd) “They were out of what you need so I couldn’t buy it.”

    Which sounds better? (The answer is B)

    In summary, remember to

    • Use words your readers know, 
    • keep your message brief & get to the point,
    • Make sure the readers understand your meaning.

    Tomorrow we are going to talk about active and passive voices.

  • What is Accessible Content?

    A question mark made of tiny buttons on a yellow background.
    Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

    Let’s start with what access means first.

    Many people in the world can achieve some things they want to, but not all. And sometimes that is down to lack of access.
    Google defines access as “the means or opportunity to enter or approach a place” but that is simplistic. To me, access also refers to permission to use a resource or take in information.

    A stop sign on a highway, referencing blocked access.
    Photo by Mwabonje Ringa on Pexels.com

    In short there are different types of access, and different needs. Sometimes it’s about being getting into a place, as the definition suggests.

    As a person with learning disabilities, and neurodiverse status this is how I see access.
    With access, I can reach the same goals and outcomes, as everyone else.

    Hand reaching to lightbulb, symbolizing access is reachable.
    Photo by Luca Nardone on Pexels.com

    Wouldn’t it be perfect if everyone got the same education, jobs, housing, and community.
    (Spoiler alert -if that sounds like a fantasy it is one but society could change one day. For now, the pursuit of access is a reality.)

    Picture of blue sky with words Future coming through it
    Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels.com

    What happens when you don’t have access? You can’t get to the same places or do the things that others can. This is the reality of life without access. To highlight this point let me tell you my own story of getting work as a disabled person.

    Photograph of the author, Beth Birley

    After I graduated university, it took 6 years to get a job. To get there meant having to be put in a disabled box in the end. As someone who would much rather fit in it felt soul destroying. I had to concede it was the only way.  This disabled box though was a specialist employment agency that got me my first proper job.


    Between university and getting a job I did temp work for a bit through an agency. One of the most devastating experiences was when the agency sent me to do an admin for a company. I thought I was getting everything right but half an hour later I was sent home. Can you imagine what that feels like?

    So now you perhaps get a bigger picture on why access is important. Let’s move on to accessible content.

  • Bitter voices- a poem of dealing with your demons

    I once chose to be liked,

    But only found rejection,

    And bitter voices in me

    Screamed like wild banshees.

    They wailed all my anxieties

    And I had nowhere to hide,

    I tried to trust in my worth

    But their tempest was louder.

    I wailed back but no use

    For their voices drowned me,

    With messages of guilt, pain,

    And how we’ll never belong.

    Then, I learned a new trick,

    To help placate their pains,

    I wrote down counter truths

    Of the good things I have done.

    They still aren’t truly silent now

    But I can calm their storms,

    For I have found strength inside

    Even when it seems I have nothing.

  • On losing a pet

    A fluffy cat curled up with a rainbow cushion underneath them.
    My little boy Obi

    Allow me to introduce my little boy who died in the first week of January this year. It was sad, but I saw it coming, and he had a long life. Yes, I miss his gentle nature – for the boy was a genuine therapuss. (My word but some cats are very therapeutic).

    For the last week or so he hadn’t been eating, so I knew it was sick. Christmas was happening and there wasn’t time to get him to a vet though, but I did what I can. I made sure he was comfortable.

    On the morning where he was gone. I couldn’t find him anywhere, then my friend saw him behind the television. I got him out and already saw he was dead.
    I held him in my lap and cried for a minute. It’s not that I am heartless but was okay with him going if he needed to.

    It was time to decide what to do though. The options were bury him in the garden, or take him to the vets to be cremated. I certainly liked the idea of his cremation.

    If we took him to the vets we had the chance of getting a plaque, which was several hundred.

    Alternatively, it was 60 pounds for him to be cremated.
    I don’t have much money so went for the more affordable. The vets were brilliant. They give me a little box with some of his fur and a paw print on the day. They later sent a letter with their condolences.

    It seems to me that this is pet funerals done right. This service was provided by Kingston upon Thames vets.

    A pet memorial box with a paw print impression, a small tuft of fur, and a condolence card from the veterinary team.