LinkedIn is an excellent tool and social network and as I’ve previously mentioned in other blog posts I highly recommend that everyone should maintain a LinkedIn profile if job seeking and it is also a highly useful resource for learning and sharing whilst employed as well.

Disturbing Practice by Pay Day Loan Employees on LinkedIn

Of late I’ve come across a disturbing development on LinkedIn; first I’d like to recognise that this isn’t a practise perpetrated by LinkedIn, but by enterprising pay day loan company employees! Basically these loan companies are creating LinkedIn profiles which have a normal person’s name and a photo, but the majority of the profile is advertising for the loan company and a link through to their website.  These profiles then send out spam connection requests to actual LinkedIn users like myself and are also liking your LinkedIn activity posts to garner good will and perhaps attract people to view/connect with their profiles.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of accepting one of the connection requests on the iPhone app as the name sounded familiar to me.  The iPhone app doesn’t show as much information as the full LinkedIn site and in the past I’ve often accepted a connection without really checking his or her profile.  A few days later I realised my mistake when I received more spam connection requests from profiles with similarly named loan companies as their current employer and I started receiving likes on my activity updates from these and other pay day loan style profiles. I promptly went onto the full LinkedIn website and found out how to remove a connection and flag a profile as spam to rectify the situation and hopefully stem the tide of further spurious spam connection invitations – I’m still getting a few.

This is a completely unprofessional practise on the part of the pay day loan companies and the profile owners.  I am supportive of businesses marketing their services to potential customers in legitimate advertising and forums, however, there are limits and rules governing how and when they do so.  LinkedIn does not condone the use of your individual profile for blatant advertising and we as the LinkedIn community have a duty of care to report this abuse of the system when we see it happening.

What angers me more though is that this practise is being perpetrated by an industry that I have absolutely nothing good to say about as it takes advantage of ill-informed and desperate people and muddies the good name and reputation of financial services as a whole, where there are reputable companies and institutions who provide valid and vital services to our community.

All I can say is that it was a really bad tactic for these companies to target me; all they’ve done is draw my attention to their further unprofessional practise and spurred me on to add my voice to the growing cacophony of the call to regulate and stamp out this reprehensible business practise of what amounts to legalised loan sharking.

My Advice

1. Don’t accept any LinkedIn invitations without first checking out the connection’s profile to be sure that they are who they say they are, even if you recognise the name and profile picture.
2. If the invitation is spam wait until you can view the full LinkedIn website and report the invitation as spam.  The option to do this is only available on the full LinkedIn website and is shown as a third option after accept and ignore.  This will inform LinkedIn so that they can deal with the situation and hopefully deter the individual behind the profile from doing it again.
3. If you see a spam profile visit the full LinkedIn website and view the profile and then use the flag a profile as inappropriate option.  Again this will inform LinkedIn so that they can deal with the individual responsible for the profile and deter future unprofessional practise by the individual.
4. If you do inadvertently accept a spam invitation visit the full LinkedIn website and remove the connection in your contacts page and flag a profile as inappropriate.
5. Don’t, whatever your circumstances or problem take out a pay day loan, it really isn’t worth the terrible consequences that you’ll face if you default on paying back the loan and the extortionate interest rates you will incur.  It might not seem like it, but you do have options.
6. There’s always a better option than dealing with these pay day loan companies and I’ve listed some sites and organisations below that have your best interests at heart and can offer practical advice and support in getting you back on track with your finances.
7. If you know of anyone considering taking out a Pay Day Loan encourage them to learn as much as they can before doing anything and point them in the direction of alternatives that might be better for their long term financial health!

About Pay Day Loans

For those of you unfamiliar with pay day loans they are short term loans due to be paid back between a week and a month that are given on the back of proof of your wages/employment for usually small amounts, anything up to £1000 and don’t require a standard credit check that high street lenders use.

On first look they seem like a great idea; a short loan of a week or so to tide you over until pay day, but delve a little deeper and you realise that they charge extortionate interest rates of APRs in the thousands, compared with the average credit card which has an APR of between 17 and 40% and the average high street loan of around 9%.  These loans are targeted at people who are ill informed and desperate, taking advantage of individuals who are unable to obtain regular credit and most in need of professional financial guidance!  What’s worse is that often these companies are not following the standards of the Irresponsible Lending Guidance (ILG) required of all companies licensed to provide consumer credit under the Consumer Credit Act (CCA).

Lots of people who take out these loans are already in financial trouble and fall into a debt spiral as they can’t afford to pay back an initial loan and have to keep taking out further loans to pay back the balance and continually increasing their overall debt.  People can end up being unable to cover to the interest let alone the original sum.  Stories of people borrowing an initial £100 and owing up to £20,000 are sadly not uncommon, with many people taking out multiple loans from different pay day lenders and ‘rolling up’ their loans four or more times with individual lenders. Rolling up is the practise of taking out an additional loan with the provider to cover the original debt and the interest accrued.

These companies may have a professional veneer of snappy TV advertising and slick websites and sometimes shop fronts, but please do not be fooled.  We’ve all heard of loan sharks and how they are best to be avoided, well Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of a loan shark is “a person who charges very large amounts of money for lending money to someone else” and that’s exactly what these pay day loan companies do.  The aggressive debt collection activities of these companies is also not dissimilar to the bullying tactics of the traditional loan shark as evidenced by the horror stories reported in the press and on the internet.

Before Taking out a Pay Day Loan

If you are interested in learning more about pay day loans or are considering taking one out I suggest reading this very useful article from money.co.uk: Warning: Payday Loans Can Seriously Damage your Wealth and checking out The Guardian Payday Loans section on their website.

The industry of pay day loans is under review by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and has further referred the pay day lending market to the Competition Commission citing “…concerns the OFT has about deep-rooted problems with the way competition works”.  The OFT’s Payday Lending Compliance Review Report had some shocking key findings including: “38 of the 50 lenders we inspected failed to comply with at least one of the complaint handling rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service”.  You can find out more at the OFT’s Payday lending compliance review pages on their website.

If you are struggling with your finances there is lots of information on the internet at sites such as money.co.uk, Money Super Market, MoneySavingExpert.com and The Money Advice Service.

The following organisations offer free and independent services to help you to get your finances back on track: Citizens Advice Bureau, National Debtline, GOV.UK, Step Change and Debt Advice Foundation.

You can also read about other peoples’ sad pay day loan horror stories here:

Bude & Beyond: Payday Loans – It’s A Horror Story!

Money Saving Expert: My Payday loan horror

Mirror: Suicide dad hounded for cash as he lies in hospital

The Consumer Action Group: Pay Day Loans Forum

Mail Online: Father dies…after being hounded by payday loan companies….

Mail Online: Rugby league player…hanged himself after getting into huge debt with payday loan companies.

The Sun: Payday loan debts killed our son, 18

I hope you enjoy looking at the doodles as much as I enjoyed creating them.  Why not pick up a pen and do some doodling yourselves, I promise you won’t regret it and if you read up on the meaning of doodles you might even find something out about yourself.

Happy doodling!

Wealie x

National Doodle Day Doodle - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Protect my heart - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Protean - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Doodle Design for Gemma - Copyright R.Weal 2012

When hearts collide - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Hodgepodge - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Swimming in Swirls - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Dearest Ben - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Higgledipiggledi - Copyright R.Weal 2012

Radiating Stars - Copyright R.Weal 2012

I’m taking some time out from the rat race and I’ve decided to visit a number of places in the South-west of
England during my summer off that have caught my eye.  The places are all around the Dorset, Avon, Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire areas and are all within a day trip from my home in Salisbury.  Some of the places I have already visited, some I visit often and love, others I will be visiting for the first time.  I will be taking photos, possibly doing some sketching and hopefully writing a blog post to give you a flavour of the places and the pros and cons of visiting them.

Wealie Nice Places to Visit Map

If you’re interested in seeing the places I plan to visit see my Google Map of Places to Visit.  The pins on the map are colour coded as follows:

The red markers are places I’ve visited before and can highly recommend, but have yet to write an article about.  The green markers are places that I’ve visited and written a blog article about.  The blue markers are places I’ve yet to visit.

I’m looking forward to some great days out that will inspire me to take some great photos and write some interesting blog posts.

Hopefully by the end of the summer most of the markers will have turned to green and I’ll be adding some new blue markers further a field!

Happy visiting.

Wealie x

Wealie Nice Places To Visit Articles

An Afternoon at Heale Gardens

Is this what you want from me? - Copyright R.Weal 2007

I read a really good article about depression today called In the Fog by Ginger, who shared her personal story and the things she has learnt about depression and how to cope with it.  If you get the chance it is well worth a read.

It amazes me the number of people that suffer from depression and the common story they all tell of isolation and loneliness.  There is a lot of stigma around depression, I think perhaps mainly because people who don’t suffer can’t quite understand how it works.  They can’t see any visible sign of the disease, they don’t understand how you catch it or if it is contagious and they’re scared by the fact there is no simple cure.  Those that suffer hide their pain and loneliness.  They feel an understandable, but unwarranted shame and weakness, when the truth is far more complicated.  All of this leads to further isolation and more loneliness, often prolonging the suffering needlessly.  The reality is that people with depression, the doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists are not much more the wiser either!

What can we do to lift the stigma?

So many people suffer with depression and stress, far more than admit it and it’s about time we lifted this insidious stigma that has been placed upon the sufferers.  The only way I can see this being possible is if people like Ginger, Shelly, Melissa and I share our experiences and by doing so encourage others to as well.  Please read Ginger, Shelly and Melissa’s experiences and please share your experiences either in my blog’s comments or on your own blog and link it back here.  Let’s take a stand once and for all and shed some light on this murky topic, give solace to those suffering through our experiences of surviving it and helpful tips of how we managed to get through the bad times.  I know when I was at my lowest ebb I would have loved to know that I was not alone.

The artist and depression

One thing I have noted in my discussions of depression with others is that individuals who suffer with depression are often touched with a deep artistic and emotional vein.  They are deeply in touch with their imagination, creativity and the emotional core of their being.  This means they can appreciate the simple pleasures, find beauty in what others might find ugly, will find goodness in unlikely places and are capable of producing the most wonderful, engaging, magical and beautiful works of art.  But in all things there is a balance, a yin to the yang and if an artistic individual has the ability to see the merest light and beauty in life, they are equally capable of falling into the darkness and becoming mired in the ugliness of life.

My personal experiences with depression

Don't Forget Me - Because Sometimes Moving on and Letting Go Isn't Simple - Copyright R.Weal 2008

I have suffered with depression over the years, sometimes to the point at which it became completely debilitating and other times where no one, not even my closest friends and family were aware that I was anything more than a little bit blue.   I think it started fairly early around 14, but I didn’t understand what it was.  I just felt like I didn’t want to be around anyone, I didn’t want to leave my bedroom, let alone the house.  I just wanted to escape into books and my artistic outlets, listening to music, shutting myself off from the real world, existing in an imaginary world where no one could reach or hurt me.  As I was living at home it was fairly mild and went unnoticed by my family.  It was a recurring theme of my teens, but it wasn’t until I was 24 that I had my first real all out fight with depression, which also turned out to be the most cataclysmic!

At 24 I was in a relationship that was stifling me, that I couldn’t see my way clear of and my relationship with my mother had hit an all time low from which it never recovered.  I had no direction, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, though everyone seemed to think they knew who I was, what I stood for and where I was going, what I should be doing and it was at odds with the secret dreams I held deep within me.  In addition to the symptoms I had suffered in my teens I got severe anxiety, being unable to keep down any food, sometimes not even being able to drink water for the severity of the butterflies that took up permanent residence in my stomach.  I lost a terrible amount of weight in a very short time (a lot of people thought I was anorexic or bulimic).  I had severe insomnia and would drive around at night for hours on end, (it was not uncommon for me to do over 100 miles in a night!).  I was restless and yet listless, I didn’t want to leave the house and yet could not stay in the company of my partner.  I barely ate or drank, and on weekends when my partner wasn’t there I never got out of bed and just slept.

Finally I found myself completely exhausted, at my wits end standing at the edge of the ocean with an insidious voice calling out to me of what it would be like to just keep walking and then just swimming out further and further from shore, until my limbs grew tired and cold, my mind peaceful and numb and I could just not worry about living any more, to give myself over to the tide of death and her deadly siren song.  It seemed to me that I did not have one reason to live, not one bright spark of hope in my future and that the world and everyone in it would have been better off without me.  I was so alone, stood out in the wind and rain not feeling the cold or the wet, ready to give up on life at such a young age.

This is not an easy thing for me to share, even as I type this I am transported back to that beach and it brings tears to my eyes, but it is important to me that I share this, so that should just one person suffering read this then they might know that they are not alone, that I have stood where they do now and that through reading this they might see that there is hope.

The Light in my darkness

And in my darkest hour it was my art that shed the light that saved me.  Just as I was contemplating moving my feet forward into the water a single line of poetry entered my head and suddenly for just one more minute I had a reason to keep breathing, a need to live to give birth to the poem that began to beat incessantly within my head.  I turned away from the insidious whispers of oblivion, got back in my car and went home to write the poem and then fell into an exhausted unconsciousness.

The next morning I awoke petrified by my actions of the night before, it was like a terrible nightmare, but I knew that it was real, if not for the poem staring up at me from the paper on the desk.  I phoned the doctors got an emergency appointment and was finally diagnosed and treated for depression with counselling and anti-depressants.

This is the poem that saved me:

THE STORM

It is easy to find oneself lost within the storm. It approaches so silently; no earthly being can escape its wake. Encompassing you within its heartless winds, buffeting your heart with its cool kiss. You stand alone as it beats down its tears of rage, blistering upon your furrowed brow, leave me, please leave me now. Insignificant spec, I cannot hear my heart, I am mute in my discontent and still this storm vents.

“I am lost”, I am losing my grip and I fear I shall fall. Who then shall be there to listen, who shall wait at the foot of the precipice for my ungainly fate? I am nothing, I am not even hate. What does it matter, I hear the hounds at my door, this isn’t my time, this isn’t my place, but who am I to question almighty fate?

Anger seething still within, but I’m so tired, the sea calls out to me through the din. Whispered longing to know my flesh, a reckless abandon rests beneath my breast. Silent entreaty I pray to the night, but my angel has taken his flight. To dance again my one request, I wait upon your true caress.

Ruth Weal
10th November 1999 11.20 pm
Copyright R.Weal 1999 ©

The importance of art for expression and as a coping mechanism

Convergence (A Self Portrait) - Copyright R.Weal 2008

The Storm is just a few scant verses and stylistically not my best work, but it is by far my most important and most deeply cherished!  You cannot under estimate the importance of art as a means of expression and a coping mechanism.

Perversely I have created some of my most charged and beautiful works of art in my depression.  The depth of the emotions that depression draws from me has allowed me to open up my artistry to levels I never would have dreamed possible in my mentally healthy state.

It is an important method of coping with the emotions that you cannot verbalise or cry out.  It gave me a sense of fulfilment that even on my very worst days I had not wasted them because I had written a poem, painted a picture, taken and edited a photograph.  Art gave meaning to my depression, which allowed me to understand it and in turn better know myself and why the depression had taken hold.

Would I take a cure?

I have often wrangled with the idea of what I would do if a quick cure for depression became available. The decision to take it would not be an easy one, for as much as my demons haunt me and can be destructive to my life they can also be instructive, creative and humbling.  My depression is a part of me, part of the balance of my being that makes me a better person I think.

When I took anti-depressants I found myself feeling strangely disconnected from myself, I was flat, no longer able to touch my emotions and engage with the creativity that they drew from me.  It was quite a disconcerting and frightening experience and I took myself off the pills fairly quickly (not that I’m advocating everyone should do that, especially not without consulting your doctor!).

How do I cope?

For me pills were not the answer, there is no quick fix for my depression it is much like a reformed alcoholic of years who continues to go to AA meetings because they will always be haunted by the spectre of the addiction and relapses are always a possibility.  Depression is a silent, insidious creeping disease that can take you by surprise if you don’t take the time to watch yourself carefully.

I am lucky not to have ever relapsed to the state I was in when “The Storm” came to save me.  I am ever vigilant and yet sometimes the depression gets the better of me, but today I understand it and me well enough to weather the storm.  I know how to combat and control it with my coping mechanisms.

Here’s what works for me:

1. Channel the emotion through art - Whatever it is, no matter the medium or how good or bad you think it may be. Get it out, let it live in all its glory and make something positive out of the experience.  All my depressed pieces rank amongst those I am most proud and fond of
2. Share your art and experiences – the first time I got up and read my poetry out loud was a revelation and it is an amazing feeling when people come up to you and tell you they’ve felt that way, or that what you read has helped them too.  Not to mention the wonderful comments I’ve received on my flickr account for my artistic photography
3. Give yourself leave to feel the emotion – Sometimes you have to give in, let it consume you for just a little while to bank the fires and keep control
4. Try and be open about how you are feeling with those closest to you – This is the part I find the most difficult.  I’m a very emotional person, but I keep it all very close to my heart and find it excruciating sometimes to externalise what I feel unless it is through art, but I am slowly getting better at it.
5. Seek help – I had a fantastic doctor when I was 24 who couldn’t do enough to help me.  It felt wonderful just to know that I wasn’t being silly, that I really was ill and the counselling was a great experience that gave me a completely unbiased person to talk to, who didn’t have a stake in the lives of any of the people I spoke to her about.

To my fellow suffers

Though I do not know your names, I know your hearts, I hear your souls crying out.  I have one truly important thing to tell you YOU ARE NOT ALONE and I am here for you if you need me.  Feel free to comment on the blog or email me at info@wealie.co.uk, I promise to respond!

Take what you can from my experience and my art, it is freely given with all my love and friendship and no requirement for you to give anything back.  But when and if you feel strong enough I urge you to share your experiences so that we might lift the veil of silence, burn off the stigma and maybe help another sufferer or two along the way.

Sleep safely, and find me in the newborn night.

Oblivion knows my name and she whispers softly to me.

Wealie x

Other great blog posts about depression

• In the Fog by Ginger on her blog Seamstress of Avalon
• Creative Depression by Melissa on her blog Sugar Filled Emotions
• Grateful for depression by Christine on her inspirational blog Hope despite Depression
• Depression and Chronic Illness by Foxy on their blog Foxy in the Waiting Room

Reflected Glory - Shearwater Lake, Copyright R.Weal 2010

I recently read a very interesting article by No Beaten Path called Can you travel without a camera.  It made some interesting points, not least of which was about people taking photos to prove that they’ve been somewhere rather than because they liked what they were photographing or wanted to be reminded of the place.  This kind of documentation is neither artistic nor experiential in nature and seems rather hollow to me.  Photography by it’s very nature is isolating and observational, but a great photographer is also and artist, they need to experience an emotion, a connection with the subject they wish to capture, which lends a depth to it that the snapshot of the “other half” in front of a Pyramid lacks.

As someone with an artistic eye I like to take pictures of things that interested me, a magical, possibly incongruous moment, capturing the fine details that would not otherwise have registered, a single feather trapped in a cobweb, the crumbling stone of a monument. My photographs are living things, when I get them home I open them up in Photoshop and editing them brings back the memory of the experience and this then has an effect on the edited picture. It doesn’t stop there, next the pictures I have chosen to edit are uploaded to flickr, titles, descriptions and tags are carefully chosen to lend additional depth, understanding and meaning. Sometimes a photograph can provide the inspiration for poetry. My end products then act as a reminder to myself not just of the experience I had in taking the photograph, but in the selection of the picture for editing, the journey of the editing experience and finally the story of the embellishments added through words and if I’m lucky the inspiration found and woven into poetry or prose.

The lightest touch on red - copyright R.Weal 2010

I generally always have my camera with me, just in case there is a moment that I need to capture, but don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel the need to photograph every sunset I see, but you never know when an opportunity will present itself and you need to be prepared! I’m often annoyed if I see something that I think is beautiful, unusual or interesting and I don’t have the camera to capture it for posterity and to share with other like minded individuals.

At the other end of the scale I can’t stand it when people take cameras into art galleries, after all the postcards can always be purchased from the gift shop for posterity and if you’re that worried you can always scan them in on the computer back home! Art should be experienced and when you are photographing you are observing not experiencing.  Unless your photograph can add something new artistically to the art you have to question why you are taking the picture?

When I travel I like to strike a balance between observing and capturing the beauty of the world around me and experiencing it so that when I do come back and view the pictures the memories will flood back not of just taking pictures, but of the wealth of emotions I felt whilst experiencing the place.

Remember, happy snapping, but not at the expense of your experience.

Wealie x

Luckily I was only 20 mins out from home, though it took me another 40 to crawl back home, especially in morning rush hour. Still insurance called and screen will be replaced today.

I took a picture of the crack below if you are interested!

A Wealie Cracked Windscreen - Taken on the iphone - Copyright R.Weal 2010

Here’s hoping tomorrow’s drive will be less eventful!

Wealie x

I’m sorry, but when people say how great Apple is compared to PCs I’m not inclined to believe them! I will definitely not be purchasing any Apple goods in the near future and when my phone contract is up for renewal I will be going with a much cheaper and more reliable Android phone.  And as to purchasing a tablet pc, well I will be looking at the ipad competitors and not even considering the ipad.

Okay rant over, time to get ready for a day out to Portsmouth’s historic ship yard and Gosport’s submarine museum with Ben, Dad, little Dylan and Ben’s sister Tessa and his nephew Ned.

Wealie x

I’ve just added a Grooveshark playlist widget to the website and it is currently rocking some classic Bollywood tunes, check it out for a bit of Asian flavour for the audible senses!

I’ve just watched the first three episodes of The Story of India, which is a 6 part BBC documentary written and presented by Michael Wood an English historian broadcast as part of the BBC’s India and Pakistan season.  I’ve always been fascinated by Indian culture, customs, it’s colours and diversity, it’s epic history and mythology and the beauty of the land itself.  It is a melting pot of different faiths, the birth place of many great ideas and concepts.

This series is a lavish and evocative exploration of the first 10,000 years of the life of India.  It’s a beautiful and interesting look at a culture and people on the surface so different from the Western European world I’m used to and yet highlights some of the key things we all have in common.

The flame that has burned within me to visit this great land has been inflamed once again and I find myself thinking more and more that India must be my next great trip.  I want to immerse myself in the colour, sights, sounds, tastes and spirituality.  Once my latest work contract is up I think I’ll be planning an imminent trip! I’m excited already about the way such a trip might enrich my life.

My research is already under way, I’ve purchased a translation of the Mahabharata to read and I plan to get some of the other key texts.  I’ve also been undergoing the hardship (not!) of watching a variety of bollywood films to tantalise the senses as well as a few great documentaries like The Story of India.  If anyone has suggestions of books I should read, films and series that I should view I would be most grateful.

The photos in this post are courtesy of my flickr friend Swami Stream please check out his flickr stream and his website, you will not be disappointed.  

If you want to purchase The Story of India you can find it on Amazon.  Perhaps if you view it, then you will begin to fall in love with this great nation and want to visit it too!

The aim is to update this firstly with all my poetry from down the years, so that it is readily accessible in one location and to showcase some of my favourite flickr uploads.  From then on everything will go on chronologically as I create it, think it, or have a view (aka rant) about it.

Feedback is very welcome, so be sure to comment and let me know what you think on the content of pages, posts and pictures, but also on the website.

Looking forward to spending a bit of time with my anonymous audience.

Thanks for reading and tread safely in the light!

Wealie x