I’m not especially motivated by trophies.
Not because I’m above it. Obviously not.

If someone hands me a shiny object and says “well done”, I will accept it with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever being offered cheese.

But the best bit of writing has always been the quiet stuff: someone laughing on a bad day, someone feeling seen, someone thinking, that’s interesting.

So yes, a few lovely humans have given me some shiny digital badges over the years. I’m genuinely chuffed about it – partly because recognition is lovely, but mostly because it means people are actually reading these dispatches from the trenches and going “Oh good, it’s not just me then.”

None of this would exist without you lot reading, sharing, and occasionally leaving comments that make me snort-laugh at my laptop. Thank you for that.

A few nice things that happened