Derren Brown & Yet Another Crisis of Confidence (Mine, Not His....)

So. Went to see Derren Brown with Jon at Grimsby on Thursday night. It was a very polished and impressive performance. Funny, too. I did find it rather unnecessarily spiteful, for want of a better word, towards spiritualism, though. I can understand, from a purely logical point of view, why DB considers all mediums to be frauds, since he can clearly achieve much the same effect using trickery/cold reading/whatever. OK, fair enough. That's his opinion and he's entitled to it. However, I know that my husband, for instance, is not a fraud. Nor has he spent a lifetime perfecting some weird psychological technique, nor is he paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for being a clever if arrogant showman. Alas. I don't believe any of the other mediums we personally know are frauds, either. Sure, some are. There are rotten apples in every pot. However, DB's logic simply doesn't stand up. Because it is possible to do something using one particular method does not mean a) that everyone who does it must be using that method or b) that no other methods are possible.

Besides, with a bit of thinking, plus the help of some internet research, it's relatively straightforward to see how most of the effects in DB's show are achieved. It's certainly extraordinarily skilled, but it's explainable, as of course he freely admits. Found a site on which people from around the country have posted reports from having seen this show and pooled ideas as to what happened exactly the same on each night and how it might have been done. Spoils the magic a little, but fascinating none the less. On the other hand, I can find no explanation other than a spiritual one for what my husband and various like minded friends are increasingly performing.

So - it was a great show and I'm really pleased we went. I just thought the level of vitriol was rather unnecessary, unpleasant and added nothing to the entertainment. After all, spiritualism is a recognised religion. Neither Mr Brown nor anyone else would get away with building a stage routine around ridiculing Islam or Hinduism, or calling for its practitioners to be jailed. Rolls eyes.

On Friday we went to see Jackie, George and their girls for the day. In the hurry to leave (got up late) I managed to leave behind all the work I'd prepared for the children to do. Jackie had lost hers too, so not much education went on there! The girls did all make bread together, though, and had a fabulous play as normal.

Yesterday was horrid; all sorts of yukky stuff that whirls around in my head kicked in to bring me yet another crisis of confidence, so I spent much of the day in tears, to the alarm of my wondeful hubby and daughter. Feeling slightly better today after much love from my loved ones and an email pep talk from a friend. Really trying hard to get to the point where I can reliably believe that other people's opinions of me, my parenting style, my educational choices, us, our lives, our work, our financial situation.....because oh boy, some people have an opinion on everything that they simply have to share.....where nobody else's opinion, beyond our little trio, matters. I'm there, mostly. An awful lot better than I was 18 months or 2 years ago, where I could spend weeks at a time in distress over a random, throw away comment - but I still wobble. And I don't want to.