Nojomo 2. in Nojomo 2014

Things that I would never have believed that I would do....

Well, that’s an interesting thought because, hey, that’s what life is all about!

I think the start of my adult life was a hard and stressful time for me because I had all these dreams with no idea as to how I could ever achieve any of them. In fact I’m not sure that I really ever saw them as more than dreams because they were so far beyond anything that I ever knew. How could something so unlike real life, my reality, be anything other than an ache in the depth of me, a scrapbook with photos that evoked what I was feeling without any explanation for an outsider. A sliver of soap whose smell would transport me to a place that I couldn’t quite see nor grasp.

There was more than what I had but I didn’t know anything other than what I had.

Then I broke free.

I applied to be an au pair, I moved to Florida, to a huge city in north east Florida. I learned how to sunbathe - seriously, I had never just laid down in a beach and watched the world go by, watched the surfers and their tribal tattoos. I still love that style and I don’t care what fashion states.

I jumped out of an aeroplane, and it wasn’t the last time! The thrill was out of
this world and I did it again, several more times over the next few years. Any skydiving qualifications I have, sadly expired as it’s important to keep logging jumps otherwise it’s right back to the beginning again.

I canoed on a river and could have stroked one of the alligators it was so close - seriously; me-canoe skin-alligator. I swum in that river later in the day and (allegedly) nearly stood on a water moccasin - I didn’t actually see it but several people were screaming at me to move.

I flew a flight simulator in a US naval air station. I crashed and burned!

I cycled, regularly, in 90’ heat, 90% humidity. One time I was cycling up to San Marcos to buy a birthday gift for boss when a small truck went past me, it had a fresh catch of crabs on board which, periodically, spun off back! One nearly hit me as it came past, and every few yards I would pass another one, lying the gutter looking dazed!

I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was fun but not something I was desperate to repeat. It was still an experience.

I moved to London. I cycled through our capital on a daily basis - approximately 70 miles a week at one point. I made friends on the comedy circuit and spent a lot of time travelling around to different venues. Through this I became the lead in a pantomime in Covent Garden. I slowly dropped the persona that I’d had throughout my formative years. The Doctors Daughter. I was no longer judged on my family but on me. I was Kate and I was a damn good nanny with a lot of respect from people who knew me.

I took up canoeing in the Thames at Richmond. I fell in and discovered that it takes about three showers to remove the smell of the water from your hair.

I learned to dance on tables in The Slug and Lettuce in Fulham, to walk the streets at night with confidence. I learned what it was to travel the night bus, full of other people travelling from clubs, singing and swaying. The famous night bus, the one that seemed to take corners at a 60’ angle!

I learned to love the south bank of London, discovered the tunnel under the Thames that lead to Greenwich.

I met Rich, he introduced me to paganism, to Buddhism. He took me to Glastonbury where the Tor became our place. We stayed up for the summer solstice each year, we walked the country lanes in the dead of night, pitch black and having no idea where our feet would hit the pavement. We went clubbing in Bristol, driving there at sunset and home at sunrise, the mist hovering above the fields at the side of the road as we drove. We visited Ibiza and went on nudist beaches - swum naked, we hiked the coast, finding small quiet coves. At siesta time we found a tree to sleep under. We danced all night at clubs, and all day.

I learned a new language because of that first Ibiza holiday. I always thought that if I learned a second language it would be German and was very surprised to find that I chose Spanish instead.

I gave birth. I never truly believed that I’d be able to do it but I did - twice.

I ran my own business (very successfully) for seven years.

And, at 43 we still go and dance the night away, I still cycle.

So, when someone offers you an opportunity to do something that you never knew that you wanted to do. Say yes. You know that movie, Yes Man? I’ve been following those rules since 1994 when I left my home town, my safety net, and removed that deep ache of dreams, making them realities.

The only one I haven’t realised (so far)(well, apart from being a pop star) (since I’m not a great singer I could do the job well) is to own a pink mini. I’m saving that one for when I’m an old lady, wearing purple and mad hats, showing my knickers at every opportunity and singing loudly with the roof of my mini down.