My time with Spotted by Locals
I recently decided to end my time working as a part time writer for ‘Spotted By Locals’, as one of the Dublin ‘spotters’. It was a reluctant decision, but truth be told I had been struggling to find the time and motivation to keep regularly contributing new articles and editing old ones. Although, that said, what really decided it for me were some troubling ear conditions (Tinnitus & Hyperacusis) which left me in a low place moodwise and further depleted my inclination to put in the work to upkeep my articles and write new ones.
Thankfully, my ear health has improved somewhat since earlier this year, although it still affects me daily, but it’s one of those things you learn to live with, until it hopefully resolves with time.
I must say though, I really got a buzz out of writing the articles, once I hit a creative vibe, I would jot down some thoughts, ideas and links I could use in my next article, and would sometimes write into the small hours of the morning to finish a piece, even if it meant being a bit groggy the next day. Not ideal I know, and I may have had a few days at work where my performance was somewhat compromised due to my ‘mojo’ striking at 12:30 the previous night!
I’ve met a really interesting bunch of people too, thanks to Spotted by Locals and in particular through the ‘Spotters’ Weekend’ in Amsterdam in 2014. I really enjoyed that weekend, despite being quite hungover on the Saturday, I had ‘come to’ sufficiently by the evening to share some funny stories with Craig from New York, a Belgian Spotter whose name escapes me (Britt?) and Filip, one of the Prague Spotters. Filip is also an ex-Spotter now, but we stay in touch by mail and hopefully our paths will cross again in the not too distance future.
Like any large group of people, there’s always going to be differences of opinions, and there were a couple of occasions where I had lively debates with fellow Spotters on political issues, mostly on Facebook. Nothing unpleasant I should add, and everyone was always respectful of the different opinions I would bring up from time to time. I’m something of a skeptic, especially when it comes to the mainstream media, most times I can tell when a presenter/journalist/reporter is being ‘economical with the truth’. And so I often tend to look to the alternative media, where, surprise surprise, we sometimes get a completely different version of events! Now I’m not saying the alt-media is always truthful and the mainstream isn’t, but I think it’s certainly worth keeping an open mind on things, and not restricting oneself solely to the mainstream press, as you’re generally only getting one version of events, and who’s to say if this is definitively ‘the truth and nothing but the truth’?
And politically, I think of myself as a liberal (stop laughing!) and yet I know I don’t really fit into the modern day version of Liberalism. I prefer Nationalism to Globalism, and am more of a Classical Liberal than a modern day one. All of this makes me an oddity among the Spotters, at least when it comes to Politics. But you know, it’s not all about Politics! Probably only a handful of my friends and colleagues have similar views to mine, but we still get on fine. When it came out at work recently that I preferred Trump to Hillary, one of my work colleagues almost had a fit! “Aww come on! How could you Barry!”. Sure there was some tension there initially, but it passed, and now it’s just funny, it’s become a gag to be brought up every now and again to make fun of me, but in a harmless way!
So, to any my fellow Spotters who are reading and especially to Bart & Sanne, thank you, it’s been a great experience, and I wish you a Happy Christmas, and a great 2017!
