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musicandchips
Thoughts from 30-Something London
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003 :::
All the obituaries today are full of the news that Wilfred Thesiger, the last of the great explorers, died yesterday aged 93. He was a man who revelled in new experiences, and loved to savour the sights, smells and sounds of Africa and the Middle East. He boldly went where no man had been before, and without the use of Enterprise-esque technologies to back him up; only traditional garb, local guides and ancient transportation methods (camels and donkeys mostly), along with his wits and that perculiarly British gentlemanly bravado and charm bred from 200 years of successful empire-building and management. His autobiography, along with his many other books on his travels, conjure magical images of the places he went and the people he met and shared his travels with, and have inspired countless thousands to follow his lead, taking off to see the world with their own eyes. He was a visionary, accurately predicting the destructive effect modernisation and the spread of Western capitalism and cultural influence would have on the wilder places and peoples of this world, and we could all learn a thing or two from him about inter-cultural respect and appreciation.
These thoughts of seeing new places and meeting new people are combining in me with yesterday's reflections on seeing old things in new ways, and together they're conspiring to make me feel incredibly footloose: I've got the itch to travel really badly, even more so since last weekend was the exact anniversary of my return from my last oversees jaunt (a month in New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut). Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money right now, so I guess I'm going to have to just grin and bear it. Thankfully the frankly stunning summer we've had has assuaged any real need to go overseas to see the sun, but winter approacheth, and with it the cold, dark, short days that so deplete the body's vitamin D reserves that it becomes a medical necessity to get away for a recharge! By Jan/Feb I'll actually be in pain for it. Then I'd better have saved up enough money to go away or they won't be chasing terrorists around London, it'll be me they'll have to look out for! Wound up tight and ready to go off.
True to my commitment yesterday to look at things from a new perspective, I spent last night and this morning reflecting hard on what will hapen if less people than I need show up to the liggerswithattitude launch at our new bar tomorrow. It's been causing me massive anxiety, much more so than any other liggers' night so far, and I needed to figure out why. After much rumination it finally hit me; if this one doesn't completely go off, I'll have little option but to knock the whole thing on the head, wasting a year's hard work and planning. Sunconsciously I've been aware of this, hence the anxiety, but it made me feel pretty good to accept it on a conscious level. Then wave two came over me; what on Earth would I do if that did happen? Leave the music business? It's all I've know work-wise since I was 16 years old, bar a couple of months stacking supermarket shelves overnight. What on Earth could I do outside of it?
But with my new eyes I realised that actually that may not be the worst thing ever. A standard 9-5 would provide me with the money, and more crucially the time, to persue all kinds of other interests and hobbies that have been nibbling at the perifery of my diary for years. And although on paper the experience I have garnered throughout 10 years in the music biz doesn't appear to have any relevance whatsoever to any other profession, my transferable skills are second to none. With a bit of training I could do pretty much anything. These problems analysed, accepted and planned for, I feel a load better today than of late. Still nervous, still hoping desperately that the world and his wife turn out in support tomorrow (I know myself well enough to know that I will take it personally if they don't, even though I also know that that would be an unfair appraisal of the situation), but ready to accept another path should that be the plan for me.
Free your eyes ladies and gents! I don't know about your ass following, but after just one experiment I can already recommend it.
::: posted by Andy at 8/27/2003 02:05:00 PM
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