The morning after the night before.
But not the night it was going to be.
I was going to write this morning about the black-tie do held by our Politics Society last night, and the importance of building a soft, social ties as part of a communal identity. I was going to write about how me looning about the dance-floor to classic disco tunes was something for you all to try with your students.
Instead, I’m sat in (a very quiet) Department, turning over the other events of last night, the attack in Manchester.
Maybe it was the relative lack of sleep, or maybe it was because my daughter was asking me what had happened, but this attack moved me more than most: the sense of distress and loss of so many parents, siblings, friends is one that I feel all too palpably right now.
In the worst possible way, it underlines the point I was going to be making: emotions matter.
They tie us together and tie us to what we do. When something moves us – for good or bad – then it engages us.
What we need to do is find ways to do more of the good engaging, and less of the bad. Something to write about next week, I think.