Uncover What’s Sleeping in your Soul

“Every paper that you read says tomorrow’s your lucky day. Well here’s your lucky day. It really really really could happen.”

Oasis or Blur? The great-Britpop rivalry is over 21 years old. Do you know what that means? It means I’m no spring chicken! I remember getting Blurs ‘The Great Escape’ and Oasis’ ‘(What’s the story) Morning Glory?’ albums for Christmas in 1995. I listened to Blurs album first but soon put it away after listening to ‘Morning Glory’. There was only ever one winner in my eyes and it stayed that way for many many years. I felt like a traitor for even watching a Blur video on MTV. An idiotic loyalty that prevented me from appreciating some really great videos with tunes to match. There was never really any rivalry as such just a group of lads trying to sell more records and concert tickets than the other and I was suckered in big time like so many others.

Oasis were my obsession for a long time. Over the years obsessions have changed and that intense loyalty has thankfully wavered. Loyalty is a very admirable trait  but I’ve learned it should only be applied to what really matters. As I write this now I’m listening to The Best of Blur and I don’t feel one ounce of guilt. I would by no means consider myself a music buff but I am certainly an enthusiast. But for most of my teenage years if Noel Gallagher didn’t say it was cool I didn’t listen to it. They were the music rules I lived by and even thinking about it now makes me feel a bit perplexed. Why should I let someone that I don’t even know affect my life in such a strong way?

Yes Oasis’ music and their all round attitude was significantly influential to an entire generation and I’m by no means knocking that. They were important and, in many ways, still are. I recently seen the Supersonic documentary about their rise to fame and it really was phenomenal. The cinema was completely sold out. I couldn’t help but bang out a few Oasis tunes on my lunchtime strolls this week and those teenage kicks came flooding back. However, phenomenons are fleeting. And the sooner you move on from them the more time you have to indulge in the alternatives.

Not everything we do or like is going to be appreciated at a meteoric level. How could it be? Still there’s no harm in having an Oasis-esque self confidence (“we’re not arrogant, we just believe we’re the best band in the world”) even if it’s only in your head.

My life has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Although it doesn’t feel that dramatic only upon reflection. I have what’s known as Relapse Remitting MS. I can relapse at any time and occasionally I do feel as though a relapse is imminent. Luckily I have yet to experience any significant relapse. When I feel one is likely I just try extra hard to eat healthier and exercise more vigilantly. Keeping my mind on different things is very important. No one uses their brain to its maximum capability but there are a multiple of ways to use different parts of the brain without even realising it. That’s why the Oasis comparison is so relevant. I always stuck to the one band, the one genre, very little variation.

‘Variety is the spice of life’. These sayings lose their meanings over time and become just clichés. But it’s so true. I am making a conscious effort to approach all situations, especially the over familiar ones, with a new frame of mind or approach. I have to. And I feel it’s helping me become more confident in myself. Crossword puzzles and building lego helps me use different parts of my brain that I don’t use regularly enough. Even my recent charity walk for the Jack and Jill foundation can be used as an example. As MS was the first detrimental illness that I had witnessed for myself I had always thought that should I ever do any fundraising it would be for MS Ireland. I am part of the MS-society and we contributed to MS Ireland as part of our wedding favours. This week as well Michelle and her family took part in a quiz night for MS Ireland (and won!). MS will always be on my mind so I needed to break out and do something different. I heard an inspirational story last year about the Up the Hill for Jack and Jill fundraiser which I shared in my previous blog. I didn’t think twice about doing my bit for another charity. In my head I was thinking ‘the right time is always now’ and within a week of putting my name down, and with a little help from family and friends, I managed to raise over €1,400.

A very proud achievement and an enjoyable experience to match. Obsessions have changed from music and people I may never know to health and loved ones who will be with me forever and herein brings the loyalty. I’m not arrogant, I just believe I’m learning to become the best person I can be.

“What made me behave that way, using words I’d never say, I can only think it must be love. Oh anyway. It’s looking like a beautiful day.”

Elbow, One Day Like This

#KBYERRR

#MAD4IT