Alright, so today I wanted to chat a bit about something I find myself doing, almost like a little ritual. It’s about those Closer magazine real life stories. Sounds a bit daft, maybe, but there’s a process to my madness, or at least, my reading habits!
My Little Routine with Real Life Tales
It usually starts when I'm doing the weekly shop. You know how it is, you’re at the checkout, trying to remember if you’ve forgotten the cat food, and your eyes just wander over to the magazine rack. And there it is, Closer, often with some wild headline about someone’s unbelievable life. I’m not always one for celebrity gossip, to be honest, but the ‘Real Life’ section? That’s my catnip.
So, I’ll pick it up. Sometimes it's a conscious decision, other times it’s an impulse buy along with a chocolate bar I don’t need. Once I get home, it’s cuppa time. That’s essential. Can’t dive into these stories without a good brew.
My first step, even before I take my coat off properly sometimes, is to flip through the magazine. I’m not looking at the fashion bits or the latest diet fads initially. Nope. I’m on a mission. I go straight for the pages that scream “REAL LIFE SHOCKER” or “MY AMAZING STORY OF SURVIVAL.” Those are the ones.
- I scan the headlines. The more dramatic, the better, initially.
- I look at the pictures. You can often tell a lot from the photos they choose.
- Then I pick one that really grabs me.
And then I settle in. I properly read it, from start to finish. Sometimes I’m muttering to myself, like “No way!” or “Oh, you poor thing.” My husband thinks I’m bonkers, listening to me huffing and puffing from the sofa. But it’s absorbing, you know? You get a little window into someone else’s world, often a world that’s way more dramatic than mine, thankfully.
I find myself thinking about these stories afterwards too. It’s not just a quick read and forget. Some of them stick with you. There was this one story, ages ago, about a woman who reconnected with her childhood best friend after like, 40 years apart. They’d lost touch completely. And it just got me thinking about my old pal from primary school, Susan. We were inseparable, then life just… happened.
So, what did I do? I actually spent a whole afternoon digging through boxes in the attic. Found my old school reports, some truly embarrassing photos, but no address book with Susan’s details. Bit of a dead end, adventure-wise, but it was a proper trip down memory lane. All sparked by one of those magazine stories. I even found an old diary where I’d written about how Susan and I were going to be famous explorers. Made me chuckle.
It’s funny, isn’t it? You pick up a magazine for a bit of light reading, and next thing you know, you’re reflecting on your own life choices or feeling a sudden urge to call your mum. I don’t read every single story in every issue. Some are a bit too much, even for me. But the ones I do read? They’re a reminder that life is a weird, wonderful, and sometimes utterly bizarre thing for everyone.
So yeah, that’s my little practice. From spotting it at the till, to the cuppa, the flip-through, the deep dive, and then the random thoughts or actions it inspires. It’s not exactly solving world peace, but it’s a little slice of my week, and I quite enjoy it.
