Add to List - #81
Something a little different this week
Add to List is my Sunday round-up. It’s the small things that brought me joy, evoked an emotional reaction, or became some short-lived stability in the past seven days.
It feels wrong to sit here and riff off the silly little things in my life: anecdotes about drinking martinis, or comic quips about what I have been wearing, events I’ve been attending, and what I’ve been reading, when my newsfeed is filled with nothing but starving babies, struggling families, and doctors risking their lives for the sake of others in Gaza.
Last summer, in the midst of a drinks run during Robbie Williams’ set at BST, my inner people-pleaser was lured in by the lovely bloke at the Doctors Without Borders tent. Not only was he incredibly handsome and had an engaging way of informing me on their work, once I got chatting to him, I was left compelled to sign up — it seemed a very worthy cause. I later took a wee behind their tent (the porta-loo queue was FAR too long on the way out). I didn't pee alone. In fact, I said to my friends as we all crouched mid-stream, pointing to the tent in front of us: “It’s okay guys, I signed up for their donation scheme today!” One guilt-free wee, one on-going donation.
Yet on a serious note, each month they send me a letter with the work they're doing, I read it, and I am SO glad I took the time to talk to him.
Last night before sleeping, I watched a parent force their children to drink salt water to keep themselves alive. It’s horrific. And it’s bizarre to watch this humanitarian crisis unfold at the same time as I review other people’s holidays, post about mine, and become embarrassingly captivated by a woman in an overpriced sports bra talk to the camera about: ‘what she eats in a day to stay in calorie deficit but hit her protein goals.’
Although many other charity donations have come and gone over the years (most of them left in January in the depths of my penniless path into freelancing), I’ve never been able to cancel Doctors Without Borders because I truly believe it is an important cause. Particularly now.
So today, instead of my usual headings, I’d love for you to take the time you usually spend reading this newsletter and find just one news article about the situation. I ask you to reflect on how lucky you are right now and consider a donation somewhere.
If you’d like to try to help innocent civilians in a horrifying inhumane crisis, you can donate to:
Of course, there’s so many working hard. But it’s hard to know which ones get aid to those in need quickest. Other organisations who have collectively signed to become the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and sound the alarm to allow lifesaving could be a good place to start.
Thank you for pivoting this week and sharing what’s important. I’m inspired!
🙌🙌🙌🙌