Tell It How It Is Or Suffer The Consequences

It was only a matter of time before I started to take inspiration from Eastenders. In general I think that most people have 'their' soap and mine, for as long as I can remember, has been the goings on in Albert Square. It provides a nice break from university work or just lets me get away from everything for a couple of hours a week. Escapism is something that I'm always interested in findings new forms of but this is my constant and the thing I can always be sure to make me feel a little bit better - call me sick because I've been called worse in the past! Anyway what inspiration did Eastenders provide me with this week? There is currently a storyline about Phil Mitchell (everyone must know Phil!) and his son Ben who has recently realised he's gay. The thing is that Ben is petrified of him finding out and only him and and an old dude Patrick (who caught him kissing a guy) knows. Phil thinks that Patrick is picking on Ben and subsequently Phil is going crazy with people calling him a racist and other such things. The thing is that this is having an affect on lots of different people in the show and this is where today's message comes from.

I'm going to slowly slink away from my Eastenders references because I know that a lot of people won't approve. The last thing that I'm going to say on the matter is that all that Ben needs to do is to tell Phil and then everyone else's life will be back to normal. It started with something small and it has quickly built up to people losing their homes and jobs. I find it highly believable (which isn't always the case with Eastenders is must be said) that something like this could happen in real life. It obviously doesn't just apply to someone 'coming out' because that isn't always something that has such an impact on other people but I think that just keeping things to yourself isn't healthy and could cause a lot more problems that it's worth.

I strive to be as open and honest as I can be but I appreciate that sometimes things are such that it's not always easy to share them with other people. My advice to people that are currently sitting on top of something that is playing in their mind is to share it with someone you trust because the longer you leave it, the more chance there is that it might hatch into something serious that affects the people around you; the people that matter to you.

Thanks for reading. I'm going to have a good think over the weekend for some good post ideas because Monday sees me publish my 100th post. Not all of them have been as substantial as some others but it's a nice milestone to reach after just over a year and a half of one of the great passions in my life.

Martin