A friend of mine recently described my life as ‘pick n’ mix.’ She was referring specifically to the nonsense I get up to in my job and the consequent pictures I post on facebook and twitter. I don’t always realise it but looking in from the outside, I do get myself in to some strange situations, which I guess is part of the job but also part of my need for constant adventure and going in to the unknown.
For instance, just in the couple of weeks, if you are cyber friends with me, you may well have seen me catching a mackerel, taking part in a pottery class and sitting on a sofa with McBusted. I love the variety in my job and I realise I’m a lucky boy. But also isn’t that what life should be about?
You don’t have to work on the radio and telly to experience these things; you can just go out and do it. My mum’s a perfect example of this (it runs in the family). She retired a few years ago, with her husband to quiet suburban Seaford. However, her life has been far from quiet since. Since stopping work, she’s learnt to kayak, joined a table tennis club and signed up for a course in calligraphy.
My Mum’s similar to me in this way. We like taking on challenges but for me, it runs a little deeper than that. It’s a fear of being bored. I don’t like it. Luckily, I haven’t felt it for a while but it always lurks in the background and that drives me forward to keep busy. It’s not always a healthy thing, I can take too much on but I’m aware of it and its part of me.
Last night was a good example of this. I was asked to model on the catwalk (still got it) for a friends charity event and I accepted, despite having modelled before (never lost it). I tend to do things once and move on to the next thing (i.e mackerel fishing). I’d done modelling before and enjoyed it but there’s a lot of hanging around backstage and then after a minute on the stage, you’re night is over.
But something else dawned on me last night. I love being in the limelight (shock) and even if it means waiting backstage for a few hours, that minute on the catwalk is worth every minute of preparation before the show. Apart from bed, the stage is where I’m most comfortable and something I need in my life at regular periods. I’m very needy like that.
So when the radio and telly dries up and fades away, what will I do? How will I feed my addiction of adventure and being in the spotlight?
I have a plan. I’m basically the next Disco Pete for Brighton.