Ok, deep breathe, here comes my very first blog message. Actually now I've started it's not so terrifying, I suppose having a hand-written journal makes me adept at writing to a figment of my imagination. This first post may seem like a mess of meandering thoughts and as I've no exact plan for the blog it will likely follow the same template but please I beg you to stay with me, if you can.
In essence I would like to share my thoughts and observations with you and gather feedback on ideas. And here is my first idea, uplifting prose.
Yesterday (being a Tuesday) I was feeling a little bit lonely and a lot bored, the silence of the office -with the exception of the numerous angry blowflies- sat like a great weight around my brain. So I decided to look for an uplifting song. Into youtube -that wondrous place- I entered "raise me up". The search engine returned Rabbit Heart (Raise me up) by Florence and the Machines. Now I know this may be old news -try as I might I don't often listen to the radio- but this song delivered exactly as titled and I feel it'll be on my music player for a very long time. In fact the whole album 'Lungs' is very uplifting.
Listening to this song got me thinking about other such songs and I had a sudden hankering to hear the Sunscreen song. Now for those who haven't heard it before, listen:
For those who have, listen to it again anyway, refresh your tired memory.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99, if I could offer you only 1 tip for the future sunscreen would be it....."
Such a simple beginning to an essay that with its basic and heartfelt advice will put a smile on anyone's face. It was written in 1997 by a Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribute and put to music by Baz Luhrmann in 1999 -yes the very same director who brought us such movies as Romeo & Juliet, Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge-. I find it moving because I think everyone can relate to it as true and therefore good advice. Do you share this interpretation?
Another uplifting essay that most people have come across in their life journeys is Desiderata. Latin for 'Desired Things' this simple prose written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920's or attributed to the Old St Pauls Church in 1692 -which ever explanation you believe, though for the record I think it was Max- has long lived on the backs of toilet doors. I remember dismissing it as a child because I associated it with the church but as a teenager this calm advice became my mantra. For those who haven't seen it before, read:
So what is it about simple inevitable truths that most people find so comforting and uplifting? Does it give relief by taking your mind of your own troubles for those brief moments? Does it give you a sense of camaraderie with the rest of the world by understanding that the advice applicable to you is also relevant to others and therefore perhaps you are not so alone or different as you think? As hard as things may seem you are not the only one enduring it? Or is it the manner in which it's presented? Neither essays give a sense of arrogance or cynicism. Max Ehrmann is quoted to have written in a diary, "I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift -- a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods". Whether it is none or all of these factors which allow the words to raise my spirits I'm not sure, perhaps you are, it is enough that today I am eternally grateful for everything I have and have had in life.
Thankyou,
