When I changed my life, I didn’t envisage sleeping on Ringo’s settee!
No — well — I was prepared for a level of disruption — counted on it, in fact — life had become too comfy (unlike the settee!)
Don’t get me wrong, I was happy — grateful even — it was a good life:
A rewarding (albeit, stressful) teaching job with interesting students and fun colleagues — check.
My own house — tastefully boho — in a great location (10 min walk to the river and wild spaces, 10 min cycle to the centre of the bustling, international, university town) Check.
Much culture in the form of the active art scene, of which I was part — free theatre tickets in town and close proximity to everything London has to offer. Check.
And a great bunch of comfy friends (they won’t mind!) Check — check!
It was enough for anyone — it still is — I however, needed to feel alive, not ill all of the time — (in hindsight, heading for burn out…)
So hubby and I hauled ourselves up out of the middle class depression we were forming in our new, Red Cross leather couch, handed in our respective notices and boldly headed off to the intrepid edge of civilisation — the Cote d’Azur!
I know. I know — but there is more, gentle reader — more of a life lesson here than maybe is apparent right now…
And here it is:-
That you do not need huge wads of cash to live in bliss in Paradise — you can have a brilliant time on very little as long as you can be content with only the bare necessities!
Ok — it helps to own your own apartment — which we do. It is tiny (lockdown was challenging), but it is ours from a life even further back…..and it is right in the centre of town, so -
We ditched the car. Easy if you can walk everywhere and public transport is cheap and accessible, which it is here.
Learn to love lentils and give up eating out, unless it is to picnic on the beach. In other words -
Do not consume!
We are still wearing pretty much the same clothes we arrived in six years ago. The only new purchases are shoes ( boots for winter, sandals for summer), underwear, of course — and moisturiser!
Which brings me to the fifth and most important necessity — friends.
Leaving comfort is one thing (did I mention that we sleep on a board?) — gambling your future on the unknown is one risk too far for this Manchester girl, — so we began a new life in a place where, long before, we had lived a different dream, raised our kids and made cool friends who are still around to invite us for the odd party and hand over precious things like a settee that once belonged to Ringo Starr.
This was bought from a friend who had acquired it from the man himself . It is a beautiful object with deep blue velvet swivel back cushions. Please Buddha, it really does have that provenance. I like to imagine the Fab Four sitting on it — maybe coming up with an idea for say, The White Album over a spliff or two…
And if it doesn’t — and they didn’t, that’s ok.
PS — If you look at Ringo’s official website — www.ringostarr.com/ — there is a photo of the musician sitting at a drumkit which is exactly the same blue hue as the cushions on my couch. Just saying…
