Although it’s a full two years since I relocated to London, there are days when I feel as though I’m a kidney, transplanted into the body of a benevolent but fractious host. Some days the host body shudders, develops an infection and the kidney, seemingly, begins its slow path of rejection.
But for the majority of the time I feel as though the transplant has been a success and if the host body could just keep taking its meds and stay away from acidic alcoholic beverages, all would be well.
The secret to making sure that you, the kidney, adapt and thrive in a relatively new environment boils down to having  a positive mental attitude (mine is dubious), but friends, girlfriends in particular, make a hell of a difference to your daily status quo. At the ripe age of this particular kidney friends are needed more than ever, to share the sweetness, savour the small victories, to buoy each other up, to marvel at each other’s accomplishments and to offer a reassuring shoulder to lean on when dog days bite which they do.Plus the host body could do without rabies.
I can often discern my ’emojinal’ state by my relationship with social media. I know that when I’m feeling as though I need to focus, to concentrate, both creatively or on just being here in the now, and enjoying the spaces in between the hurry and bustle of life in a big city with all it’s attendant customs, demands and rules, that switching off is often the simple answer. Leaving your phone outside your bedroom at night, using an alarm clock instead of having the temptation of a screen on a charger beside the bed and trying to absorb the minutiae of the most quotidian aspects of daily life without thinking of everything in tweets or posts or sound bites, the mind darting about like a newt in a rain soaked pond.
At other times, however, I confess I crave the connection- missing so many loved ones on the opposite side of the globe as I do. Because instagram, for example, does connect you to others and it does give you instant access to share with them and to congratulate them on their accomplishments and milestones you are missing in person thanks to the tyranny of distance. Some days I want nothing more than to peep into a dear friend’s son’s 7th birthday party. I can’t be there, but I still want to see his tiny perfect teeth when he smiles.
Yes, ironic I’m sharing these ramblings with you via instagram.
But this kidney is okay with that.