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Weird day, today (thread alert).
Today I found myself in Otford, by Sevenoaks. I was shooting a car for an upcoming auction on C&C. Nothing weird in that, it's my job. However...
Today I found myself in Otford, by Sevenoaks. I was shooting a car for an upcoming auction on C&C. Nothing weird in that, it's my job. However...
The chosen location for this shoot was the car park at Otford cemetery. Just around the corner from that is Vestry road, which is where my first job in publishing was. Back in the days of Retro Ford magazine...
Seems like an age ago now. I was slim, my hair still had colour. Distant memories. But I digress.
At the time, Lucie, my daughter, was a newborn. With that in mind, we couldn't afford to move to costly Kent. Not least because my salary was ÂŁ16k. Ouch...
At the time, Lucie, my daughter, was a newborn. With that in mind, we couldn't afford to move to costly Kent. Not least because my salary was ÂŁ16k. Ouch...
...but I wanted the job. I NEEDED that job. It the opportunity to do something I was passionate about, something I could call a career. So I took it anyway. The then wife was not impressed, but we're divorced now, so ner.
Anyway, back to the cemetery...
Anyway, back to the cemetery...
...I couldn't afford digs. I could barely afford the fuel to get to Kent on the regular. So, I made the most of my Vectra estate and slept in that through the week, in the cemetery car park. It had a DVD player in the dash, so all was good. Well, as good as it could be in car...
...I hated it. Obviously. Not least because it turned out to be something of a dogging spot, which was an unfortunate eye-opener. I learned that on Thursdays it was to park elsewhere.
But park, and sleep in my car I did. And at the time, it seemed insane...
But park, and sleep in my car I did. And at the time, it seemed insane...
...but as I sit here, years on, in the best position I have ever had, working for an outstanding company that seems to like the way I do things, after years of training myself and learning, it seems worth it.
Would I do it again? Yes, probably....
Would I do it again? Yes, probably....
...the point being, that if there's something you want, go for it. I'm not saying be like me, I'm saying you do you. Go for what you want. Even if you don't get it, take the risk and try. A more sensible version of me would have declined the job. But man alive, I'm glad I didn't.
It's not been an easy journey to get here, and there have been many, many downs both personally and professionally, but at the core, because I took that risk, because I did the 'daft thing' I gave myself options. And that's what sleeping in a Vectra taught me...
..not everything in life is going to work out. Some daft choices will be that - daft. But they only get the chance to breathe, to become defined as daft *or* successful if you take them in the first place.
HERE ENDETH THE THREAD.
HERE ENDETH THE THREAD.
The offending Vectra, for anyone wondering...
