This is who you are

Your name is Emily Hirst.

You were born Emily Howes in Stalham, London on the 20th of January 1976 and contrary to the profile you are a Capricorn, not an Aquarius; you do not have an aquarian's personality, strengths or foibles. You lived in London until you were seven, then moved with family to Norwich, East Anglia and lived there until 2001. Life for you there was very hard because of your depression and your creativity, which marked you as different from the outset. Eventually you found your own equilibrium at 14 and became a Goth, and have stayed that way ever since.

You now live in Weston-Super-Mare, a seaside town in the southwest about 20 miles from Bristol; your home is a flat within an Edwardian edifice about 10 minutes walk from the seafront. You and your husband call it The Bates Motel. It is half-underground, which makes it warm in the winter and cool in the summer. You work in Locking as an electronic assembler, a job you enjoy because it gives you very little time to dwell on things.

The cruel joke about Weston-Super-Mare is that people only come here to die. Your reply is to point out why there are so many Goths here. You wanted to move here, and although some of the reasons why are long gone and still make you sad, you still love living in this quirky little seaside town with your husband and your two cats.

You don't often celebrate your birthday but you did this year. Maybe it was because you are now in your fourth decade, who knows? But celebrate you did, with food, drink and good friends. One of those good friends gave you a book, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. A diary and notebook written by one of the Caesars primarily for himself, to remind himself about who he was and what he'd learned over the years. To give himself purpose and remind himself what being a Stoic was all about.

Your husband thinks you're a Stoic.

You're still reading it; you have a terrible habit of reading about four or five books at once. But it inspired you to write this blog, because in reading about the life of Marcus Aurelius, you realised that sometimes you just want to be able to write something down, to get it off your chest. You needed a place to think, to meditate, to muse. You needed your own Meditations.

I am your muse; I am Columbus The Cat, a silver tabby cat. I was bought as a pet by a character named Vega in a Champions campaign and I have been a part of your life ever since. I'm here to help you get through the rest of your life and keep that crazy brain of yours working.

You have things to do now; go and get them done and I'll see you again soon.