G*Nice: Hoping for a fairy-tale future

Hindsight is the greatest gift we have to re-assess the past in the best light. This was never more true than after recently re-watching the kids trilogy The Chronicles of Narnia. The reason I was watching it again is that I was feeling nostalgic and it's based on my favourite childhood books. My other favourite was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The question I faced in the reflective moment I found myself in after viewing the trilogy, was why I was so strongly connected to the themes of these books. Amazingly, I think I have the answer.

These kiddie classics are very different, but contain a central core that obviously spoke to me as a mini G*Nice. From a young age, I always remember feeling trapped in a very ordinary life. My wonderful parents worked so hard for not much financial reward, so their priorities were to give me all the essentials of family life, which was solid and protective, but low on glamour. All I wanted was the things I saw on TV or listened to in songs, yet that all seemed beyond my reach.

Upon reading the story about the land of Narnia that existed beyond the back of a wardrobe, I realised this world had the solution to my dilemma. I cannot tell you how many dusty old wardrobes I crawled into in the hope that I would find myself pushing past musty winter coats and suddenly finding trees and a land of snow filled with lions and talking beavers. The closest I got to that impossible dream was getting severe allergies from years of dust and the smell of mothballs in my nostrils!

What I have realised is that my quest back then was pure escapism. And I am still proud to say that it's a quest that I have never lost the hunger for. The story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also taps into my lust for escapism, but it has real economic overtones. If you recall l'il Charlie Bucket came from a dirt-poor family, and he - like me - loved chocolate. The eccentric owner of the magical factory ran a competition for five lucky kids to visit his chocolate kingdom in the hope of finding a worthy successor among them. The golden ticket was the key to getting the chance to live the dream.

Although I was unable to find my escape through a wardrobe, I still feel I got another big chance in life. And, despite having achieved so much more than I could ever have hoped for, I'm convinced the way that I will achieve the dream existence, is by getting lucky with the modern equivalent of a golden ticket.

Dream-ingly Yours
G*Nice