I never really grew up being political or Labour. It was just a realisation that where you were born mattered. That how you spoke mattered... who you knew mattered.
The great pleasure that comes from reading poets such as Mark Doty and Marianne Moore is the realisation that the essential virtues - compassion, wonder, humility, respect for the mysterious - are far from conventionally heroic.
To take an analogy: if we say that a democratic government is the best kind of government, we mean that it most completely fulfills the highest function of a government - the realisation of the will of the people.
When you start to realise how much of what you've constructed of yourself is based on deception and lies, that is a horrifying realisation.
My real guru are my experiences in life - the realisation that you are alone in this world came very early to me.
But like everyone else I've come to the sad realisation food banks are an all-too-common feature on the streets of Britain.
The blood and sweat shed by United States and United Nations troops proved to be the prime mover behind the realisation of freedom throughout the post-war period.
Irrespective of its size, Greece, with its intellectual heritage and the brilliance of Hellenism, together with the liveliness of its people, can contribute politically, morally and culturally to the realisation of the idea of a united Europe.
I came to the realisation, rather late in the day, that whatever your body's meant to be, it will figure itself out.
Cancer makes you realise that you will be dead one day. It's so common seeing people dying and falling sick, but we aren't really ever able to comprehend it ourselves. The realisation that I am here for a certain period of time and will be gone after that made me value my time and life.
