Practical resources I can usually organise for myself. They allow me to go where I want, when I want. They allow me to reach the emotional support and motivation I need - for that can only come from others.
My practical resources all centre around my leather satchel for which I paid almost £130 three years ago - an extravagant purchase you might think for someone on £91.80 per week benefits, but it’s intended to last a lifetime and it does the job required of it. It contains all I need to survive, it goes wherever I go!
So what’s in the bag?
It contains; diary/ address book, A-Z for Exeter, Torbay and Plymouth, several Stagecoach Devon timetables, a First Great Western timetable, A4 writing paper, pencil, red pen, yellow highlighter, post-it pad, red and black whiteboard markers, cloth for cleaning white board, extra tobacco and papers, spare lighter, re-usable cloth shopping bag, extra large plastic bag, sun glasses, reading glasses, benefits letter, CV, photocopy of some meditation techniques, my WRAP (on 2 sides of single sheet A4), bottle of tap water, Mac-in-a-Bag, sun hat, comb, spare key to my flat, Ventolin inhaler, 8 combined Aspirin/ Paracetamol/ Caffeine tablets, 6 low dose sleeping tablets, 2 condoms, 2 sticking plasters, 2 x 20p, a AAA battery, digital voice recorder, student ID and carrier, memory stick (back-up for my own computer, but also allows me to work on anyone else’s; contains hundreds of emails/ contacts, all my own writing, electronic versions of articles, bits of books, policy documents, reports, guides to everything that seems worth knowing about mental wellbeing!)
About my person I carry keys, coins, tobacco, papers and filters, lighter, tissues, wallet containing single debit card, driving licence, folding money, stamps, a couple of passport photos and my mobile. And last of all my go anywhere/ anytime Gold Mega Rider bus pass for Stagecoach Devon.
All the above gets me by bus/ train/ walking to my emotional resources and sources of motivation; and they in turn mark-out the limits of my territory (between Exeter and Plymouth with occasional forages as far as Bristol).
My only goal is the next horizon, my only need to meet someone there I care about - who will teach me something I don’t already know!
(..but
now all that has changed. As of November 2014 I have a new satchel - there is
nothing wrong with the old one I just want it exclusively for beachcombing -
and there has been a lot of change to the contents too, brought on by my
inevitable switch to a smart mobile device. The new bag cost just as much as the old one,
and contains the further luxury of a proper leather bound Filofax to replace
the diary/address book. Just as others are coming to depend on an electronic
organiser, I take seriously the research that suggests that when it comes to
memory and recall, then the hand/eye work of handwriting is much more likely to
help than a keyboard/console with a screen. The A4 pad has also gone in favour
of the back of the Filofax. The attraction of Google Earth plus maps plus GPS
means I’m down to one local A-Z, and far fewer transport timetables! I still
rely on the Bus Pass, though I can drive if I need to. Increasingly the smart
device leads, it satellites around the laptop at home, plus relieving me of the
need to carry a digital voice recorder, a calculator, a book…)
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