Desert Island Discs

 

Good morrow to you the reader of this post.

I hope this finds you all well. It is 11:26 on a Saturday morning, I have worked 750 hours this week, stood sodden in a field (ok well, Kew Gardens) whilst finally seeing one of my favourite singers live during the biggest downpour of the week – I think I’m still damp. I now have a weekend off – Halle-bloody-lujah!

This weeks post – as given away by the title – is my desert island discs. Some of you will be familiar with the BBC4 radio show, others the podcast version. I do not listen to Radio 4 (shocking, I know) but I have recently discovered the podcast and it may be my new favourite thing; as I write this I am listening to Russell Brand’s episode.

For those that don’t know the format here’s what it looks like. Each show there is a new castaway, they choose 8 discs they can take with them to a desert island. They then get to chose one over all others that they would save. It then got me to thinking about what my desert island discs would be – it was really effin hard to choose and ask me next week and I may have changed my mind BUT for now here are mine.

 

Paolo Nutini –Candy

I have long been a fan of Paolo. I remember seeing him in a small venue in Camden back in, maybe, 2009 and I was blown away by two things; the voice and the sweat- I have never seen someone sweat that much!

There are so many memories attached to this song and it reminds me of a time when I was truly happy – I didn’t really realise just how happy I was until I wasn’t anymore but this song always makes me smile and takes me back, at least in my head, to that time.

 

Dizzee Rascal – Fix Up, Look Sharp

 What a bad boy tune. This reminds me of being a teenager at school and whilst I wasn’t particularly enamored with school and I don’t have massively fond memories of that time I have always loved this song and I was at school the first time I heard it. Now it’s my go to song when I need to get motivated, as soon as I hear that first ‘Oiiiiii’ I just smile and think YES SON.

 

Andrea Bocelli – Con Te Partiro

Switching it up a tad from grime to classical… this song is just magic. Andrea’s voice is outstanding. It has such a calming effect on me and I cant help but just close my eyes and appreciate it when I hear it. Big up my dad for bringing Andrea into my life.

 

Passenger – Holes

If you have me on social media you’ll know I saw him live for the first time this week. I was soaked to the bone but standing in the middle of Kew Gardens in my own little Passenger filled bubble was the happiest I’ve been in a long while. Holes is my favourite song of his and so you can imagine my delight when he closed the show with this.

For me, this song is all about human resilience. It reminds me that we all have our shit but you gotta just pick yourself up and carry on. It’s a good reminder to not wallow in self pity. “We’ve got holes in heart, yeah we’ve got holes in our lives. Where we’ve got holes, we’ve got holes but we carry on”

 

Christina Perri – I believe

 For someone who seems to constantly question herself and is always a bit confused by life this is a brilliant, almost theme tune. The lyrics are what speak to me more than anything and it’s my go –to song whenever I’ve felt a bit lost or been lost in the haze of mental illness. Those of you that suffer with Mental Health problems know it can totally strip you of your identity and this song always kind of brings me back and reminds me it’s a phase and to just breathe.

 

Perfume Genius – Can’t Help Falling in Love

Everyone knows this song but not everyone knows this version. One of my favourite things is when people send me new music to listen to and my favourite sarcastic ray of sunshine sent me this a year or so ago. It’s now one of my most played songs. I adore it.

 

Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness

 My theme tune. That’s all you need to know.

 

John Lennon – Just Like Starting Over

Surprised? Of course John made the list, it would be wrong to go to a desert island without him. I struggled to pick a song because I actually have a few of his that I would love to take but this one tops the list.

 

The song I would save above all others is Kid Cudi’s Pursuit of Happiness.

 

Kirsty Young (who hosts) also gives all castaways the Bible, the complete work of Shakespeare and one other book of their choice so my book will be a ‘How to play piano’ book. I am always annoyed that I never bothered to pick up and learn how to play.

I did consider Harry Potter but I don’t think a series of books is allowed and I would just become frustrated with the fact I couldn’t finish the series.

 

My Luxury Item would be a piano to go with my book– how cool would it be to go to a desert island for a while and then come back with a new talent?

 

And that’s it.

 

What would your desert island discs be? Tell me do.

Week 12. Be Kind.

Where I am: on a train 

Listening to: Maren Morris ‘My Church’

Week 12. This is a catch up post. A catch up post with a clear message. 

BE KIND.
My first post of the year was a short (and sweet?) post asking everyone to do just that. Be Kind. To themselves and others. In this one I ask the same.

There is so much terror in the world, uncertainty and tradegy; each day there is another news story reporting something bad happening somewhere. It is so disheartening to see.

• The attack on Westminster 
• Brexit triggered
• The assassination of Timothy Caughman in NYC
• Trumps entire presidency
• The ongoing war in Syria
• The rape and murder of the beautiful Danielle McLaughlin who was celebrating Holi festival in Goa
• The violence in Paraguay over the election

And that is just a sprinkle of the terror in the world. 

Despite the constant terror, hate and evil that I see each time I open a newspaper or turn on the TV, I still have so much faith in humanity.

…and I believe Mr Rogers here to be right.

The medical professionals that ran from St Thomas’ when hearing of the Attack on Westminster – they ran blindly, not knowing nor caring what they were running in to, they just wanted to help. The peaceful Women’s march on Washington, the annual fundraising on Red Nose Day and Children in Need, the thousands of dollars donated to Planned Parenthood after the Trump administration decided to defund it and all it’s work (and FYI, as a British woman who has never needed to use or even really know about PP, even I know that they do SO much more than just abortions).

I’ve often spoken about my belief in how people’s reactions to things show you who they really are; you learn more about someone in times of trouble than in times of joy. We cannot change what happens to us but we are able to control how we react to it.

I heard a great version of this on a Podcast the other day (Here to Help with Noa Shaw for anyone who wants a listen). The story goes something like this; 

“Imagine you’re a mum and you have a son who is 3 years old. You’re due at a birthday party so you get yourself and your son all dressed up, wrap the present and are all ready to leave. At this moment your son comes into the room covered in peanut butter. 

You can react in 2 ways. You can get really angry and annoyed at him for ruining the outfit and stopping (or maybe delaying) you going to the party OR you can react like a loving mother – laugh at it, give your child a bath and have some fun whilst he’s in the tub and overall have a fun (if different than planned) afternoon” 

Great story showing that reactions can change our whole day. Chose to be angry and annoyed or laugh and have fun? I know which I’d rather. 

 “Imagine what the world would be like if we treated ourselves and each other as a loving mother” pondered the speaker on the Podcast (who coincidentally was guest – and my fave singer/songwriter – Christina Perri) 

Wow. What a thought. 

Look at the world through the eyes of a loving mother. Hate, anger, annoyance… all those negative emotions just drive us apart. 

Be Kind. 

BE KIND. 

Xoxo Micks