I CAN still remember the sense of anticipation I felt going to vote 10 years ago. It was by far the most enthusiastic vote I had ever cast and in many respects it was my entry point to political activism.

It’s a day I’ve been thinking about a lot, and one that I’ll be reflecting on when I open a Member’s Debate next Wednesday, on the anniversary itself.

For that short 24-hour window in 2014, we had the power to take our future into our own hands, to rebuild our country and choose to do something different and better.

I desperately wanted us to keep that power and use it to build a greener Scotland and a modern democracy: one where power rests with the people rather than a government we can’t remove, an unelected monarchy, or a House of Lords stuffed full of cronies and donors.

Like a lot of National readers, I spent the months leading up to the vote reading everything I could, discussing and debating with friends and asking big questions of myself and those around me.

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Particularly in those last few weeks, it felt like every household and workplace in the country had become a hotbed of debate and a microcosm of what was happening in the country.

We all know what happened next. For so many of us it didn’t feel like we had lost an election. It was much bigger than that. It was the end of an opportunity to think bigger and really do things differently.

I find myself thinking about the opportunity we lost almost every time Westminster has done something Scotland opposes. It is as if there are two different timelines playing out, one in which Westminster rule has continued and one in which we can make the decisions of a normal country.

To me, it is obvious which was more appealing.

The Tories took us out of the EU while Scotland overwhelmingly voted to stay. Westminster has implemented a hostile environment against refugees and migrant communities, while Scotland has voted for parties that would extend a hand of friendship.

The UK Government has signed up to 100 new oil and gas licences while the Scottish Greens have worked to stop them.

It was through the time I spent as a government minister that I learnt about the scale of the blocks, hurdles and limitations we face.

The sabotage of the Deposit Return Scheme was particularly frustrating and told me everything I needed to know about our “family of nations”. If Scotland can’t even introduce a can and bottle recycling scheme without Westminster intervening, then what hope do we have of transforming our economy?

When it comes to wages, working conditions, trade union rights and basic public spending, we are constantly having to defer to a Westminster government that has let Scotland down time and again.

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But my debate won’t just be a time to lament on the things we have missed out on. It will be a chance to think optimistically and talk hopefully about the future we can still have.

I don’t believe that the 1.6 million people who voted for independence in 2014 are now looking down on Westminster and watching Keir Starmer punishing pensioners by removing Winter Fuel Payments and doubling down on Tory cuts and thinking it is any kind of advert for the Union.

A lot of the people I know and care about who voted No in 2014 have changed their minds since then and want to have their say. They feel like they have been cheated and misled and they can see the huge gulf between the rhetoric of the promises that were made and the reality around them.

That is to say nothing of the vast number of young people who were not old enough to have their say in 2014 but are living with the consequences and who have lost their right to live, love, work and travel across Europe. I want to know what they think and what they want to see from their future.

But we also have to be honest about the fact that there are a lot of people who we have not been able to convince. Our movement has been too busy talking about how we get independence rather than why we need it and relating it to the challenges we face.

We need to listen to those doubts and discuss people’s concerns if we are to earn their trust. With the huge constraints of devolution there are no shortcuts, that is the only way that we can build a solid majority for change and force a referendum.

A lot of the memories of a decade ago still feel very real and the loss can still feel raw. I would much rather that we were on the alternative timeline where an independent Scotland was able to make its own decisions.

But we can’t get there without building our movement. We should think about everything that has happened, but we also need to do everything we can to ensure that when the 20th anniversary of the day comes around, we are celebrating it in a fairer, greener and independent Scotland.