One of my pieces of homework from last week’s coaching session was to look at myself in the mirror, long and hard, and accept to myself what I do have; what good there is about me. Herein, I now reveal two truths about myself. The first is not really a secret: I am scared of the hairdressers. Some people are scared of the dentists – not me – I like it; but take me to the hairdressers and I am petrified.

The second is something, which I guess if I’m honest with myself, I have been aware of for some time, but have been unwilling or unable to admit to myself. At 32 years of age, my hair is thinning on top. I’m not particularly happy about it, and I don’t like to think about it, but its true. It’s time I faced the truth and admitted to myself the truth.

I have just finished watching Richard Curtis’ new tv film set around the upcoming G8 Summit (intriguingly switched from Scotland to Reykjavik). I felt it to be an extremely compelling drama for the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign. At times the dialogued lumbered around stats and statistics that had to be dropped into what was otherwise a love story, but it seemed to work none the less. Certainly, one is left – if you didn’t already have – with the overwhelming feeling that really and truly, no matter what the economists and politicians might say, it really is that easy.

There is no good excuse for the way we, the richest of the world’s nations treat the poorest. If it means that we all have to make some sacrifices to the standard of living that we have each come to enjoy, then so be it, that is what we have to do. We have to act. We have to act now. We have to act unilaterally. And we have to live with whatever (small) consequence there is to our nations wealth.

The film was interesting for me on another, personal, level. That of the love story between the Bill Nighy and Kelly McDonald characters. Watching this, as I was, on the heels of today’s final(??) coaching session – of which more later – I found myself seeing my own diffident nature in forming and developing relationships in Bill Nighy’s Lawrence character. The tentativeness, the uncertainty, the fear; the simplicity of the opening question, in a cafe… I could do that, maybe. Maybe not in a cafe, but I could sit down at a table, couldn’t I? I’m not saying that I’m going to start hanging round cafe’s on the off chance. It might not be a cafe. Either way, I must keep my eyes open, keep my ears listening, and sometimes, just sometimes I must take those risks.

Interesting.

Thought provoking.