One Luxury Item

This morning’s post is prompted by a recent episode of the Australian version of “I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here” currently screening on Channel 10 in this part of the world.
Now, I wasn’t really going to get involved in this show but succumbed to all the advertising hype and tuned in on the first night to see which celebs they were planning on dropping into the African jungle.
I must admit that even as an Aussie, I only recognised a small handful of these ‘celebrities’. We even have a ring-in from the good old U.S. of A – Maureen McCormack (Marcia of Brady Bunch fame).

I must admit that I am loving watching her. She is her own style of crazy mixed in with lots of really nice attributes. Mind you, being cooped up in the jungle with 10 other people you don’t even know would be enough to send anyone crazy.
However I digress.

Whilst I am finding I’m a Celeb quite an interesting social experiment to watch, it has provided me with some laughs and some very cringe-worthy moments along the way. Those who seem the nicest people sometimes show a dark or annoying side (Lauren anyone?) but I must wonder if that is due to the work of the editing staff or whether they are really like that in real life.
I have laughed along with Merv Hughes on many occasions but am beginning to question whether I would have yelled at him or threatened his life at some point in time if it was me in the shoes of the other contestants. Some people just don’t know when a joke isn’t funny any more I guess. As the group is a mix of the older generation (Merv and Maureen) and those much younger (Lauren and Joel) with some in between (Andrew and Barry come to mind) there are many moments of inter-generational friction.

So, it was with some amusement when during my morning meditation  a thought about the show came to me. I struggle most mornings with my monkey mind but this thought came during a moment of stillness and prompted me to journal about it.

Before going into the camp for the 6 weeks (less if they are voted out), each contestant was allowed to pack one luxury item to take with them. These luxury items were taken away from them and stored by producers until a point in this past week where two ‘intruders’ (a.k.a. Master Chef winner Julie Goodwin and English cricketer Freddie Flintoff) had to pass a trial in order to bring the items in to those who had already been there 2 weeks.
Luxury items packed by our wannabe campers included a pillow, hair dye, a laminated picture of Harry Styles (of One Direction fame), car seat cover, inflatable mattress, a thermo pad, a yoga mat, a hairbrush and a shirt sprayed with a fiance’s aftershave which was then sealed in a bag. All very interesting choices although I can see the practicality of some of them. Some choices I really query.

The question posed to me by my mind was “So what would I take with me into a 6 week long camping-in-somewhat-extreme-conditions reality show”?
I struggled with the choice of two items – a notebook and pen or a camera. There are pros and cons to both of them.
The pros to the notebook and pen is that I would have something in which to continue my daily journal and gratitude journal. It would also provide an outlet for any creativity that might come upon me whilst slumming it in the jungle. Writing is an outlet for me and something that brings me peace so it would certainly be of value for sure. It would be a lasting record of the time I spent amongst strangers, eating strange foods and worrying about whether I was going to the be the next one voted out. It might even provide the basis for my next best-selling book! 😛
The cons for this would include the chances of the notebook getting wet or the pen running out.

The camera’s pros include the chance to capture the beauty of the jungle around me, an outlet for my creativity and a lasting record of my experiences. The cons include the battery running out, water damage, not being able to have all my lenses and copyright issues that may arise from photographing things that may remain the intellectual property of the show’s producers.

In the end, I decided upon the notebook and pen as my luxury item. I thought that I could tape a couple of inspirational quotes and photos of my family within the covers as well. Although, I wonder if that could be considered ‘contraband’ like the block of chocolate secreted within the blow up mattress owned by Andrew Daddo was?

So, my question to you is:

If you were about to go into the jungle with 10 strangers for 6 weeks, what luxury item would you take?

I can’t wait to read your answers.