# 64 (2013) Do You Believe?

I've never lived in Scunthorpe. I've never even been to Scunthorpe. And if you've watched 'Skint' on Channel Four you probably won't ever consider going there either. And much like its predecessor 'People Like Us' on BBC Three which was set in Harpurhey, an inner city area of Manchester, it gives a closeted view of one type of person in one specific area.

The programme makers aims are clear. Ratings. Benefits, unemployment and trouble families are high on newsreels and in the minds of working people who are also struggling to make ends meet. And to say there is a little resentment towards their unemployed brethren who just 'hold out their hands for free money' would be an understatement.

TV programme makers thrive off this to create programmes they know viewers will be transfixed to. And even though the programme's subject is very specific it does nothing to enhance the reputation of the area.

(source)

Scunthorpe, the only town with a swear word in its name, is probably a very nice town. Perhaps not the Westcliff Estate where 'Skint' is set, but I'm sure there are some very friendly areas. I've been reading various comments and there are people there that love their town dearly. I'm sure Harpurhey also has its fans.

Viewers you see, won't look for the overall picture. They will watch the programmes and tar a community with the same brush. They get fired up and point fingers and so the ratings go up. TV is a very persuasive medium. You can make your programmes aim as open minded or as closed as you like and people will believe what you show them because the camera never lies, right?

But did you know that in 2011 Scunthorpe won a Google award for being the UK's fastest growing online hub? Programmes like this can have a devestating affect on areas already struggling. Of Harpurhey it was noted:

Locals are threatening to picket the BBC’s northern headquarters at MediaCity 

in Salford and claim that children from Harpurhey have been bullied at school, 

appointments at estate agents cancelled and young people turned down for 

jobs since the series began airing earlier this month. 

And no matter what the subjects of the programmes see or tell programme makers during filming, it can be a very different result once it goes on air. If you allow a documentary to be made about you, don't necessarily think you'll be portrayed in a balanced way. Once they have the material programme makers they can do pretty much what they want with it within reason. So watcher beware and don't always believe what the TV tells you. 

Harpurhey residents. But is everyone like this? (source)

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# 50 (2013) Acquisition

What are your material aspirations? What are the things that you wanted to have gathered around you by certain milestone points in your life? Did you have any milestones in the first place or were you content to drift and just enjoy life.

Traditionally (and still for many) aspiration involves progressing up the ladder - owning a house, a car, finding a lifetime partner, having children and job security whilst hopefully squeezing in a few personal indulgences along the way.

But what if you don't want the traditional things? What if home ownership, marriage and children don't figure in your long term plan? What then is the focus of your overall aim. Where do you want to be? You might want a life of indulgence, but how are you going to fund it?

(source)

If you're planning to remain relatively single, income is going to feature pretty high on your list since you won't have the opportunities that joint incomes provide. On that basis and depending on your career plans (if you're planning to stay independent you need one right?) you may never have the option to own your own house or car. That may not be a problem for you. Being independent may also mean you can go where work is without having to uproot your nearest and dearest in your quest for careerdom.

I won't deny I tend to do everything in a roundabout way. I went to Uni late and whilst I had lucrative work for many years I am only now taking the early steps into what I would describe as the career I always wanted. But it's taking its time getting off the ground and I feel like I am cutting things a little fine. I have reached a frustrating point in my life where I am having to take two steps back in order to keep on the right track whilst trying my best not to lose sight of my original aim. Because as I very well know you can get very caught up in the heat of the moment and forget what it was you were supposed to be doing.

I am a rolling stone. I have always lived in other people's houses and am generally very happy not putting down roots anywhere for long. For the last 4 and a half years I have been in house shares and not had the option to acquire any significant personal possessions. And I am about to down size yet again in probably my most spectacular de-cluttering exercise to date. By the end of the month everything I own will fit into one very average sized double bedroom except for my car and 3 hens. Yes, the hens have been spared adoption.

A month ago I didn't even own any cutlery since it was unceremoniously snatched out from under me. I do have a limited but practical set of kitchen equipment. But that's pretty much it. And it seems very paltry considering the number of years I have been on this earth.

I am scared that my life is not going to amount to much if I don't get my aspirations on track. My goal since I was a child was to be 'somebody'. I've had to accept temporary defeat yet again just in order to remain in a static position and that doesn't seem very satisfactory at all.

# 27 (2013) Money Can't Buy You Happiness

I have always said I'd rather be doing a job I hated and earning money than doing no work at all. Spike Milligan said 'Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a more pleasant form of misery'. He was so right.

It's been two months since I did any actual paid work and loath though I am to admit it I feel like a business failure. Of course, I don't have to put myself through it. I would rather be earning money at a regular day job than creating for free. It's a matter of fact that I have to honour the landlord, British Gas, Orange, Anglian Water, Lincoln City Council and Virgin Media first before my personal creativity. Worrying about my business and all the associated domino effects that I get from not earning is killing my creativity and right now sitting in an office doing the 9 - 5 doesn't sound so bad.

So I'm job hunting because I am sick of doing nothing, worrying about the basics and fed up with trying to work out how I'm going to be able to afford to move in April.

I'd rather run my business on a part time basis than give it up completely.

Call it changing the plan for success.

The Gospel according to Richard Branson (source)

# 40 Regression

My mother sent me a food parcel this week. Whilst this is very sweet and exactly what I would expect my mother to do when I mentioned in passing that 'luxury' food such as cereal and fruit had become a valuable commodity, it felt like an epic fail in my book.

Not being able to stand on my own two feet, financially independent and 'holding my own' has long been one of my biggest fears. I haven't been financially dependent on anyone since 1998 when I first left home. And I have existed at both ends of the scale - two holidays abroad every year and not having to worry about anything, to having no electricity for 3 days because there wasn't a spare fiver in the place.

If nothing else it gives you a true sense of morality where money is concerned and this is in itself a valuable lesson. Never squander it, you don't know what's around the corner.

University has been one of the most frugal points of my life. It certainly feels like a regression of sorts and at times it has been incredibly frustrating and even humiliating. Living off a grant of £3,500 a year is not easy, it's little more than Jobseekers Allowance and there are copious additional expenses for course materials that just can't be avoided.

Earning again will be the one good thing about leaving University. I've really enjoyed my time at Lincoln and I'll be very sad to leave such a creatively opulent environment. It's the first time I've been allowed to indulge in what I want to do full time.

And it's been educational in so many ways more than the obvious. Once I leave the University in May, I'm on my own. Setting up a business designing and manufacturing clothing and styling photoshoots. It's an unknown quantity. How well will I do in such economically scarce times? To be honest, it scares the pants off me, but at the same time it's a liberation, because I never thought I would ever reach this goal.

It's the most important thing I have ever done in my entire life.