WRITING THE BRIEF AT THE END

 

Note: For the final project at Hillsborough College, whilst Access students were required to write their brief at the beginning of the project, they were also allowed to re-write the brief at the end if they had ended up doing something different. I made full use of this facility.

 

The day before I die, I will re-write the brief of my life.

 

In the morning, I will read my original brief, written some decades earlier, and laugh at all my adolescent expectations and rigid plans. It will seem to me that my original brief was written not so much by me, but by my mother and father, and their mothers and fathers too, and generations going back in time.

 

After lunch, a profound sense of sadness will descend on me, as I reflect on the years of stress and low self-esteem, when I felt a failure and beat myself up for not doing what I was supposed to be doing.

 

As darkness falls on my last day, I will switch on the computer and write a new brief, full of all the amazing things I actually did with my existence. I will feel deeply grateful that I was able to find a sense of freedom and spontaneity which allowed me to follow my heart and change as I grew older.

 

At midnight, I will switch off the computer for the last time and go to sleep, relaxed and happy, finally at peace, satisfied in the knowledge that I fulfilled my brief completely.

 

Chris Beale

11th June 2011