Timing is everything, apparently. Whether you’re buying or selling a house, attempting to make an appointment with your GP or navigating the rush-hour commute, it’s not so much what you do but when you do it that counts.
If timing really does matter, then so must your chosen units of time. Traditionally, most of us stick with the Gregorian calendar, by default. Days, weeks and months suffice for the majority of the time. We count down the days, tick off the weeks, and the months have a habit of looking after themselves. Before you know it, it’s Christmas (again!).
Autumnal teaching is punctuated by two other lesser-known units of time, however. We all adhere to them, without actually realising it. The first of which is Strictly time. Strictly time begins around the second Saturday of September and permeates the following three months. Many of us profess to be not-the-slightest bit interested in engaging in Strictly time, but tune in, nevertheless. It provides light when the evenings get darker, and a touch of glamour mid-October when it’s most needed. When everyone seems to be playing a different tune.
The ‘Great British Bake Off’ complements Strictly time. It works in a similar fashion, providing food for thought and ample encouragement to eat cake. Saturdays and Tuesdays are the most important days of the Autumn Term. Seriously.
Why? Because not all terms are created equally. Whilst it’s only a third of the year, a good fifty percent of your reserves are expended in getting to know your new class. Just like Strictly, the main protagonists might not initially appeal to you. You question the calibre of ensuing performances. There are evidently a lot in the starting line-up with two left feet. Like the GBBO, you’re not sure whether this season’s flavour is to your taste. Maybe the mixture is not quite right.
But as always, it will ultimately come together to form something spectacular. Because it’s YOU who puts on the show. It’s you who injects creative inspiration and ignites levels of performance hitherto unseen. It’s you who gives the handshakes. It’s you who awards the tens. You are both star baker and star maker.
Because you know what you’re doing. Every day, you skip into school and perform the dance that everyone needs. Somehow you craft, choreograph and perform thirty uniquely different show dances that culminate in the ultimate showstoppers.
You do that. Welcome to the next instalment of the greatest show on Earth. Starring you.
It’s way more than a 7 from me.