When I was young I could never understand why that article at the back of The Sunday Times Magazine is called ” A life in the day of…” Surely they had that the wrong way round. I even asked my mum about it once but got a non-committal and frankly unsatisfactory answer.
It makes more sense to me now, of course. And I still dip into it from time to time, curious for a peek in to someone else’s life. And it has been joined by a whole plethora of similar columns giving the ins and outs of how busy and seemingly important people juggle their numerous business meetings with family commitments, personal trainer and a demanding social life.
Now that I am a grown up, I notice two things about these articles. Firstly, no matter how famous or indeed infamous the subjects are, their days are all pretty much the same. They get up. They eat. They work. They eat. They relax and then they go to bed.
Some things vary. Are they a lark or a night owl? Whether they are at their creative, sparkly best early or late shapes their day. Their need for company affects whether they leave the house for the gym, a meeting, a recording session or spend the morning in their jim jams with tea, toast and laptop in bed.
Food always plays a big part too. Late lunch with friends, dinner with agent, picnic with lover. We are spared no detail, almost as if meals in their many guises are the most notable events of the day.
And so, week in and out, that column has recorded the lives of thousands of well known people and yet their days all mirror each other, no matter what they they are well known for.
This brings me to my second point. The days of the celebrities are more or less the same as mine. It’s true that my days do have more of a regular pattern to them and red carpet events, foreign travel and TV appearances don’t generally pepper my social calendar. But fundamentally my days share the same building bricks of life. Sleep. Food. Work. Relaxation. Sleep. The only difference is that no one has heard of me.
I wonder if people are interested in reading about lives that remind them of their own existence. Perhaps what they are looking for is a bit of escapism so that they can indulge in a spot of fantasy lifestyling or even take a pop at how the other half appears to live. But I think there is some sort of comfort to be gathered from understanding that there are innumerable other people, all with their noses to the grindstone just like them. And whilst it might not be quite so exciting if lunch is a cheese sandwich shared with the Loose Women rather than at The Ivy with Angelina Jolie, details of someone else’s life can still provide a fascinating insight to what goes on behind another front door.
So with this in mind I think I might treat you all to “A Life in the day of Imogen Clark” later in the week and then you can see how much I share with you as well as with all those important and exciting people. I can’t guarantee celebrity name drops but it might make you feel a bit happier with your lot!