This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I was lying in bed this morning, listening to the news and thinking, ‘who would want to be Prime Minister?’ If I was Theresa May this morning I would just want to go out for a long dog walk, sit outside in the sunshine with a cup of coffee and definitely no newspapers! Maybe phone a couple of girlfriends and arrange a meet up, or go with a friend to an exercise class. The latter describes parts of my weekend – normality, tranquillity, and non-judgemental.
Do you fancy being a celebrity?
Then I thought who would want to be anything other than a normal, everyday person. Would you want to be a celebrity? Every time you go out you have to wear one of those baseball caps and dark glasses. No good for me as hats flatten my hair for the rest of the day. You have to be made up, looking fab – those leggings with the puppy tear (I am currently wearing a pair of these), the mismatched top and no make-up look is not going to win you Instagram followers or an audition for a new film. The media will suggest you are having a breakdown or a break-up, but in actual fact you are just being normal.
We have recently read about the tragic suicide of Mike Thalassitis who came to fame through Love Island. No doubt there will be journalists asking the question, ‘Why did he do it?’ He had achieved fame and even some fortune. He was about to open a café with an ex-footballer and he was blessed with gorgeous looks. He obviously did not see it as enough to make life worth living. The negatives in his life clearly outweighed the positives.
What about being a royal?
Meghan Markle fell in love with Prince Harry and now is the victim of racist abuse. Little girls love to dress up as a princess. I, like most little girls, went through a stage of wanting to grow up and be a real princess. That was before I realised the difference between the life of a real princess and a Disney princess.
We all judge people and the role that they play – Prime Minister, princess, celebrity, but we have no idea what it is really like to cope with these lives. Being in the spotlight, being judged daily and thinking you are not living up to everyone’s expectations, must be very hard to deal with.
Fame and fortune do not bring happiness necessarily. They are certainly not all that they are made out to be.
This morning my brother sent me a picture of a pot in his garden with a beautiful pink flowering plant and the message “Little things give pleasure… first time it has flowered like this in ages.” He did make me laugh as, when I replied asking what was the plant called, he came back with “That’s much too technical for me – a pink flower in a pot.” One simple plant viewed by my brother and shared with me has brought so much happiness on this Monday morning.
We judge all of these people by the titles they hold or the roles that they play but maybe we should all appreciate our everyday lives that give us so much pleasure.
Annabel and Grace have just started a podcast and it is called, Everyday Stuff for Older Women. It is two ordinary women chatting about things that make them laugh and/or cry. Subjects that we all talk about and others that we think we can’t mention. It is really worth listening to.
Click HERE to listen to the A&G podcast.
There is much to be celebrated about everyday stuff and the everyday women who enjoy it. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or just normal – I will take normal every day of the week!
More thoughts from Poppy can be read here