It has been a long time since I last wrote anything even resembling a blog post. In fact, according this blog's stats, a whole year and a quarter. That's a long time, even by my slacker standards. The truth is, although I studied my degree in Journalism (from the now almost Top fifty Times recommended University of Lincoln!), and have always held a passion in writing, that it's dwindled considerably over the past few years.
The reason is simple: life. That curious notion that, - slightly misquoting John Lennon here, 'life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans'. I'm inclined to agree: none of us go through life deliberately sidelining the things that make us happy, that speak in some way of who we are - it just happens like that; slowly and often imperceptibly. The deeper into the coma of life we go, the less we remember what made us glad to be alive in the first place. That's not to say that the coma isn't great whilst we're in it, only that it takes some people a lot of time and effort to wake up and come out of it; some never do. I guess it's called apathy, and we're all guilty of it.
In truth, whilst I've had some genuine great moments over the past few years (Greatest Hits tracks might include: 1) What - He's a Teacher?! 2) Mrs Thomas and Married Life 3) Snakes and Ladders on the Salary Scale 4) Settled with a Pet 5) Mastering It 6) Socialising and the Glorious Art of the Friday Night Piss Up, etc) I've also sidelined a lot of what makes me truly happy at the same time.
I used to love travelling and would take any opportunity to travel the big wide world, but time and money slowly got in the way. I guess part of it was also the mentality of the 'settled man'; an almost daily affirmation that I was done with that, that it was time to grow up - settle down and plant my roots. Nothing wrong with that of course, and planting my roots in Leicester over the past four years has been deeply rewarding. But a traveller isn't a noun, it's a verb: it's something deep within us that makes want (need) to do it; to seek out and live it. A traveller who doesn't travel is a wheel in a shed; nothing more. I've always thought part of the draw of travelling is re-capturing that child-like feeling of exploration we all have when we're young: that sensory over-load where everything is new - every sight, sound, taste and smell hitting us at a million miles an hour, driving the neuronal pathways in our brains. It's why, I think, people say that travelling opens our minds: it literally creates new pathways in our brains. I miss it.
Along with travelling and writing (ok, I've written a few academic bits and pieces for my nearly-complete(!) MA, but there's only so many times you can write 'pseudo-intelligent quote, by Random Academic 2012: 99' without feeling somewhat creatively blunted), I've slowly let the fitness and the love of music slide - both in the enjoyment of new albums, and playing my own (I use the term loosely) instruments. At one stage, I played the bass / guitar every day, if only for 5 minutes. Recently, its been once a month or two if I'm lucky. Hell, as you probably already know, I was once in the mighty 'Mangasm' (more on that in a later blog).
So, I've come to a point in my life where I've started to realise that a lot of what I've put into the box of 'been there, done that; move on' and packed away hasn't been simply what I was, it's who I am. So I'm starting to unpack it and dust it off again. In the same way, other things that I've become a tad over-reliant on (booze and junk food) aren't making me happy anymore, and haven't for a while. That's not an admission that I have some kind of problem, or that I will never stuff my face with an extra large Papa John's Pizza or taste the sheer joy of that thrist-quenching friend Old Mr Fosters; only that I've recognised that the balance of enjoying such delights needs redressing slightly at the moment.
So over the coming weeks, I'm going to attempt to update this blog much more regularly and also start to enjoy those things I've sidelined in recent times. A friend of mine recently introduced me to the pioneer of 'Gonzo Journalism', Hunter S Thomson. I should probably explain - gonzo journalism takes on the idea that the journalist doesn't simply write about a chosen topic; rather that they 'live' it in order to truly understand it and give it meaning. In this way, the writer becomes the event and relays it back to their audience in a way that a passive writer could never do. It occurred to me that I've done quite a few things in my life (chased off an island by monkeys in Thailand, trained as a teacher, been in a band, ran a half marathon), and that perhaps I should write about it, gonzo journalistic style. In fact, maybe that's what I've been doing unwittingly all along: eating up new experiences in hungry journalistic way. The only difference, of course (and I admit it's quite an important one) is that I haven't written about it...yet. Expect some blogs on such over the coming weeks.
Finally, if you are reading this and wondering 'whatever happened to Mangasm? They should make a glorious comeback!' (you aren't, but humour me for a minute) then you will be pleased to hear that, after 6 full years of band-hiatus and a couple of chats here and there, it appears that the lead singer, Mr Shane Edward Gostelow, and Rhythm extraordinaire Steve Sands are keen to get back on board, at the very least for a few 'old time' jams. Indeed, I have very recently written the guitar, bass and chorus lyrics to a possible (whisper it) Mangasm comeback song, called - in true Mangasm style - Academic Lesbian (I knew there was a reason that I still haven't finished that report)...Perhaps never did one sentence inspire so much joy and concern in equal measure. In the meantime, watch this space. Dan.
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