Every day is a school day:Lessons in confidence from Nick Ferrari

Who is the most confident person you know?

There’s a phrase I’ve borrowed over the years: Every day is a school day. 
Nick Ferrari says it occasionally on his LBC breakfast show after learning something new. It’s a small phrase, but it tells you everything about the man.

When WordPress asked today’s prompt, ‘ Who is the most confident person you know?’ My mind went straight to him.

Nick Ferrari has spent a lifetime in journalism: newspapers, television, political debate, and now radio. He interviews politicians with the tenacity of a dog with a bone, circling back to a question until it is answered or calmly stating that it hasn’t been. He doesn’t let power slip away from accountability. He doesn’t soften the truth. And he never pretends not to notice when someone is trying to dodge it.

That, to me, is confidence.

But it is the other side of him that completes the picture. 
When he stumbles over a word, as we all do, he corrects himself, apologises, repeats it properly, and moves on. No fuss. No ego. Just a man doing his job with clarity and self-respect.

He is self-effacing without shrinking himself.
Direct without being cruel.
Firm without becoming brittle.

I often think what an extraordinary mentor he must have been, or could have been, for young journalists. Someone who would teach them that confidence is not swagger. It is purpose. It is the ability to hold your ground without losing your humanity.

What stays with me is not only his tenacity but the steadiness beneath it. He listens with intent, challenges with purpose, and refuses to be diverted from the truth. There are no theatrics in it, no ego, just a disciplined clarity that invites others to think more clearly, too.

Confidence, in his case, feels less like a performance and more like a practice. And I find that inspiring.

This

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

There are many ways people can find to help them cope with negative feelings. Today I choose this….

My head’s in the sand

Dreaming of a land

Of elves and fairies

Fruits and berries

Cities made of trees

Gates without keys

Singing bees, dancing birds

Plenty of unknown words

A realm where jesters rule

And a simple stone is a jewel


By Kostas Lagos ( Greek, contemporary poet)

In the moment

What activities do you lose yourself in?

WP you asking bloggers about which activities they lose themselves in. Mmm, now then, I wonder what one of them may be? 

Is being out in nature an activity per se? Walking is obvs, but I am talking about immersing myself in nature. Being mindful of every single moment, movement, sound. The smell of the woods, hearing the stream race along. The sun shining through the trees or rain  dropping from the sodden leaves. The crunch underfoot or the slosh of puddles of mud. The birds.

I’m wondering. Maybe I lose myself in everything I do now that I have the time and space to do so?

Messaging with friends, making coffee, listening to the radio, looking out of the window-watching the squirrels, reading the posts of my fellow/favourite bloggers, driving everything, and anything i can think of.  even chilling. Yep, they all have my undivided attention, thesdays.

In the words of Derek Walcott ( plus short edit re DP

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times? – Nah, WP, not today. But thank you

Hi. I shall use this space to put the words of another.

Derek Walcott ( 1930-2017)

Love after Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

🤔Edit… it has just occurred to me that I no longer have the time ( to spare) to rewatch stuff. Time is of the essence, right?

Away with the fairies

Are you superstitious?

When I looked up superstition, I was surprised by how sharp some definitions were. A few make it sound like a flaw in thinking. But that has never matched how it feels to me.

Britannica offers something more balanced. It suggests that superstition is simply one of the ways people have tried to understand uncertainty. That feels closer to the truth, especially here in England, where so many old beliefs still linger quietly in the background.

Some superstitions began as common sense wrapped in a story. Don’t walk under ladders was never about magic. It was an early safety warning. Even the old idea that bridesmaids shouldn’t wear green has roots in folklore, scandal and for a time, poisonous dyes. What survives now is only the faintest echo.


I’ve realised that a lot of superstition is really old wisdom in a folkloric coat.

I don’t believe the universe is keeping score, but I do understand the small rituals people keep. A familiar object, a repeated gesture, a moment of steadiness before doing something uncertain. That isn’t superstition to me. It’s human. And if I sometimes imagine a little magic in the world, maybe a glimmer in the woods with Patch, a stone on the windowsill catching the light — that’s simply my way of staying open to wonder.


So no, I’m not superstitious in the traditional sense. But I do understand why people reach for these old beliefs. They’re about being human, and that feels like the most grounded truth of all.

And perhaps that’s all superstition ever was, our way of finding a little steadiness in a world that has always been bigger than us?

Paws for thought

Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?

WP, if it’s all the same to you, I will answer instead ‘which animal would you like to be?’ And in this case I would also add for one day only.

That would be a cat. A British domestic type.

When I first read this Prompt, my mind wandered into the realms of a Feline-Existence. Immediately put in survival mode, it came to me all of the places on Earth where it wouldn’t be a safe option. War zones, obvs. That would include civil and any areas where there is conflict. I wouldn’t want to be a Stray in, say, Saudi Arabia or any of those regions worldwide ( and there are more than you would imagine) where I may be considered a tasty morsel. So, with that settled, let’s go back to being a Moggy in the UK.

Without a doubt, I would be a cat ‘allowed’ outside.  There will be plenty of  warm and sheltered places to nap. I would check out the hood, be tolerant of other furry residents, and generally have a fun and easygoing time. If I was hungry, I could go indoors. My people have kindly installed a flap-door for me. Or I could nip into the neighbour’s’. Or I could test my patience by sitting close, facing a stone garden wall, and wait for Mousey to come out.

In the early afternoon, after a roll about in the Catnip at number 14, I like to head into Tom’s shed. The door is always open then, and jump onto the shelf at the window. It’s a bit dusty and cobwebby, but I don’t mind. The sun streams through there for about an hour. Bliss!

P.S. I Love You

Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

Dearest You

Who knew it would take me all morning to stumble over the words I have in my head for you. Let alone get them down in print?

I’m concerned you may not be as comfortable in that skin as you once were. I’m worried that you won’t have a companion cat or dog because you would spend endless hours every day fretting what would become of them when you spin of this Mortal Coil.

I would like to be there to hold your hand and look deep in your eyes, and feel how your heart is holding up.

You will not be best pleased what ageing has done to your physical appearance.  Not in the vain ” ooh aren’t I pretty” kinda way, but in a ” yes, I can scrub up ok” when I try.

You will have done your best to keep your eye on the ever-changing landscape. If you have a device on your lap, that would be wonderful.

Someone to give you a hand and chat to if you need that. The ability to get out into the fresh air and light, maybe a short stroll. To enjoy fresh food.

As I write this today, my very being is full of hopes for you. Remember Emily Dickinson’s Hope is a Thing With Feathers? Do you still enjoy poring through poetry books? I’d like to think so.

And now it’s time to close.

It’s March 10th 2026. It’s cold out there, but the spring flowers are doing well, and today, there’s  not a cloud in the perfectly blue sky. There is even a little warmth in the sun.

May you find a ray of sunshine to sit peacefully in each day. May your sight be clear to see the natural world. May all your senses be your friends.

🩵💚🩷

Miracles do happen

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

It has to be said I have enjoyed some magnificent shopping sprees over the years. And it’s a good job I can remember them so well as it is unlikely I will be venturing down that road anytime soon.

Central London (with a close friend of mine) was our stomping ground. We had an absolute blast. A two/three day city break was awesome.

But never say never..it could happen again.