I’m late, I’m late…

Although I knew I’d used up the bank of posts I’d scheduled, I got all caught up in follow-up work with my business coach and completely forgot to finish off any of the drafts I’d been working on before Wednesday came and went – oops!

But, when I sat at my desk to rectify that situation, I stumbled upon the random fact that today, in 1923, Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened and his sarcophagus found – which set me off on a new train of thought…

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First it took me to a book I’d read earlier this month (Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety for anyone who’s interested) which takes place between WW1 and WW2. Set in London’s Soho, it’s the tale of an infamous crime family who own a series of nightclubs. The family matriarch choses to decorate one of the nightclubs in Egyptian style, as it’s all the rage following the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Her son, who manages the nightclub, is not so keen. Scattered throughout the book are references – both to the excitement around the discovery, how that seeped into fashion and design, but also to the fear that the curse of the mummies had been triggered by breaking into the tomb; a fear that only increased after the death and bad luck of a number of people associated with the expedition.

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Next, it took me back to my first visit to the British Museum, when I accompanied a group of children from my daughter’s class. Picture the scene, me attempting to corral half a dozen 11 year olds, who are tasked with following a set path in the museum to complete a worksheet. A worksheet which doesn’t include the mummies…

This was my third museum trip with this group, and they knew me well enough to let me know They Were Not Happy. They wanted to see the mummies – and frankly I was with them. So, I called them to order, explained that if we knuckled down, stayed focussed and didn’t mess about, we could get the worksheet finished and still have time for a short visit to see the mummies. They were all in. We raced around that museum ticking stuff off, and even the bad boys who usually caused all sorts of trouble stayed on track. So focussed were they that they managed only one co-ordinated toilet visit, rather than the usual rambling multiple visits.

The Egyptian rooms contained some magnificent stuff, but the little darlings only wanted to see the mummies. Of course, we didn’t get to to see Tutankhamun, as that exhibition was off touring the world somewhere else, but they were cock-a-hoop. My daughter was seriously unhappy that school policy had prevented her from being in my group, as our little gang were the only ones who saw the mummies – and they thoroughly enjoyed telling everyone on the coach all about it, all the way back to school!

Even 70 years after the buzz written about in that book, the buzz about the mummies was alive and well. I suspect it still is 🙂

What’s distracted you recently? Have good are you at staying on track & on keeping focus? Does it take a certain prize at the end to achieve that focus?