Fradam

Last night, Kellie and I experienced Guy once more.. and whoa. The guy does not disappoint. He’s still the same kinda Guy he always was - ready to intersperse random chatter about his boots, jeans falling off and what not, in between his songs. This was a rather unique concert; he played a few songs that are unreleased at this point, i.e. we got to hear the makings of his next album. There was a rather different sound, as there was a violinist on stage. Something that has always impressed me is just that Guy has sung with a variety of things behind him - just a guitar, a full rock band, an orchestra, a marching band, a combination of the above, or sometimes nothing at all.. and has always sounded brilliant.

So some of the new music has a different sort of groove to it, there was one song in particular I really liked, which was a duet.. definitely looking forward to hearing more of that. I don’t think there was a definitive set list for the rest of the night. The night was marketed as a “Guy, live by request” night, and he had asked the Internet for it’s wishes.

Obviously, the band and he had prepared for certain combinations of songs and knew from the online polling, what sort of songs were generally going to be most requested, so at many points, he simply turned to the audience and asked us what we wanted to hear - and not just his own music either! At one point, he sung a bit of Umbrella, and in true Guy fashion, integrated some of his own lyrics in.. “Chris Brown is lucky… I wasn’t there.. “. His ability to improvise and spin lyrics out that actually fit the the tune never ceases to amaze me. One fan had got in contact with Guy and persuaded him to sing Sweetest berry as a dedication to his wife who was in the audience and happened to be celebrating her 50th birthday that evening. In the seat to my right. So she was integrated into the song too, and had an experience she’ll probably never forget.

There was a trip down memory lane, as Guy did a medley of songs from his Idol days, which I much enjoyed.. although, two that I really enjoy; Hello and The way you look tonight weren’t part of it. He also did a few songs from his first album, which brought back a lot of thoughts for me, as that was around when I first was introduced to Guy and began digging his groove. Still one of my favourites, My beautiful friend was dedicated to a sick girl in hospital that was listening via a phone link up. He tailored it especially for her and it was quite stirring. On that note, we were privileged to hear Perfection, a song he wrote for his wife, Jules, and sang to her on their wedding day. That was simply amazing; it basically was about the idea that God had got the angels together and decided to make a perfect woman, and went on to describe some of his characteristics, and how the angels wanted to keep her but someone on earth needed her.. ahh beautiful. Some of the final lines “When she was 21, she changed someone’s life… when she was 28, she became his wife.” She was in the audience too, I cannot imagine how she felt.. I was trying to picture it, to know that you’ve moved someone that much, to mean so much to someone. Just wow.

The night ended really well too - a massive encore, where he went and played the drums for a while and encouraged his drummer and bass guitarist to take the mic and the limelight for a few songs. I love that he pushes his band up whenever he gets the chance. He finished with a series of soul songs, mostly from his Memphis album, which was some good grooving! I realised afterwards, the entire set was 3+ hours - probably the most Guy I’ve got to experience in a single session, woo! Thanks to Kellie for an awesome night

Wow. So it is official: Michael Jackson tour, is ON. It’s difficult to focus right now as I contemplate possibly one of the greatest stars of our time, is going to be performing soon.  The scary part is that it’s a 10 concert tour, and it’s the last one for London. He’s given no indication about what is coming after that - I hope it’s a world tour. By my reasoning, if he goes outside of North America/Europe, he has to come to Sydney… right?

Tickets go on sale next Wednesday, March 13th. Fans can register for the chance to buy tickets on MichaelJacksonLive.com; the ticket sale will be similar to the Led Zeppelin reunion one, where registering results in a unique password that gives the user the chance to buy up to four tickets.

Well, I went into the draw for the Led one and didn’t go well.. but if I get the chance to buy these.. hmm…

It was their first visit to Australia, and my first time seeing a big time Christian band live… and let me just say, wow. I’m so happy I got to be there with Jamie and simply experience it. I do not know what I had in the way of expectations - I’d heard a number of their songs on the radio, and had been listening to a few at work in the days leading up to it, so I knew there would be a lot of music I didn’t recognise. But you know what? It didn’t matter - the songs had subtitles on the big screen! I found this incredibly handy as it meant I could actually think about the words in these songs a lot more, rather than their meaning disappearing into the ether of a concert. In conjunction with the explanations for some of their songs… it made me quite appreciate songs that I had previously just listened and seat-danced at work to. Mind you, I’ll still seat-dance at work to them, but they’ve got more in the way of meaning now. Strongest memory is still of If we are the body.. so good.
Some random things that stood out:

- The opening act (Parachute Band), I’d never heard of them before, but they were pretty good! Very passionate, and a good choice to get the crowd all amped up for the main act
- Some of the guys from 103.2 HopeFM got up before they played and had a few prizes to give out to people who could sing a few lines from a Casting Crowns song - one of the guys who got up there and sang was incredible! I sometimes am amazed there aren’t more bands out there.. people can be really talented.
- The lead singer of Casting Crowns, Mark Hall, has a great life story of how he ended up building this band, despite having both ADHD and dyslexia - things that severely held him down during his youth. It was encouraging to see someone overcome obstacles and find fulfillment in what they did.
- We didn’t get yanked into our seats for standing up. In fact, Jamie and I at one point, stayed standing as he began to talk about something - thinking it was just a brief little intro to a song, commented on the Mexican wave of people sitting down… and then realised we were the last people standing up in the entire audience. Even the diehards in the front row were sitting down! The talk proceeded to go for another 10 minutes.. and because the next song was a bit slower, nobody else really felt like standing up either. Oh well, it was fun!
- He led a prayer.. not once, not twice, but three times! I’ve never prayed with that many people before. Although, one of the prayers, I wasn’t quite sure where it stopped, because his language morphed into addressing us (the crowd).. and it was really subtle, because my brain became aware he was talking to us and I was thinking “Hang on.. he can’t pray to us…”. Having not prayed with that many people before though was definitely an experience.
- Mark had a big push to get involved in a charitable work, and talked about how he and his son had been supporting a child in Africa who had the same birthday as his son. It was quite moving, hearing about the bond that formed between the son and his friend in Africa. The giving became a personal connection, and so much more than simply sending money off to a distant country.. his son had a friend that he cared for, prayed for, wrote to, thought about… it was beautiful and has given me a few ideas about something too.
- I’d have been pretty happy if Mark was the only guy who spoke about the work in Africa. Another guy (you can see he left a memorable impression on me) - I think he was involved with the Parachutes  - spoke about it too. I recognise it can be hard to talk about charitable work you do sometimes without sounding a bit .. yeah .. but calling the number of kids his family supported a whole ‘tribe’? I didn’t really feel that gave them much respect. Something about the way he spoke made it sound more like a numbers game and I didn’t find myself that encouraged to get involved from his talk. I know his intentions are in the right spot; he wants more people to become aware of how easy it is to sponsor a child, which is a wonderful thing, so I applaud for him for that.. but to me, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have to take care about how he refers to them all. His call to action was to go to the foyer in the break, look at the pictures of the kids there, and “see if there was one there that you liked”.. it almost made the entire process feel like one was shopping in a supermarket for a new brand of shampoo.
- He did however talk about the Parachute Festival, which is this massive 3-day concert over in New Zealand, which they are hoping to bring across to Australia and tour around the country. Daniel later told us that it really is the biggest thing on the NZ calendar, and is quite comparable to Big Day Out..! It attracts more people in total due to it being 3 days long, but whoa. That will be amazing if they get it over here in Australia. He offered free CDs to those
- Mark didn’t really give any special attention to the hosts (Hillsong), but asked everyone to yell out the congregation they worshipped at, and then encouraged those who wanted a place to go, to go where their neighbours went (provided they yelled out!). They also handed out free Bibles after the concert to anyone who wanted one. No pressure at all on it, but it was nice to see it on offer.
- I had called Koorong (they organised a lot of the concert) earlier in the evening to find out if there were any special buses or anything running to/from the event.. the guy on the phone was so disappointed to have to give me bad news (no dice), even going as far as “I don’t even have a car I can lend you…”.. awww! People can be so NICE!

What an amazing evening, so happy! I am grateful for Sammie giving me that opportunity - thankyou!

I’ve completely moved into the new place, and it is still quite startling how close everything is:

- Coles and Woolies about a block away

- 3 Asian grocery stores within walking distance

- An Indian grocery store that is as far as the Woolies!

… and work is about a 20-25 minute walk away. That’s right, I now walk to work! It’s quite a pleasant experience. The first morning was spent adjusting to the veritable cacophony of traffic all around me. It has been a while since I’ve been walking in the midst of that. Since then, I’ve got my MP3 player working, listened to my Beatles collection, discovered some quiet routes that make awesome avenues for prayer, had my MP3 player die, solved some maths puzzles, attempted to gain eye contact and smile at random strangers that I go by, been reading Velvet Elvis and found a new time of the day to call my parents. Best of all, I’ve found a great time of the day to do absolutely nothing; just clear my thoughts and attempt to walk. Walking.. I’ve really missed it.

I used to think of myself as quite the pedestrian.. Woody and I once walked to uni. It was for the purpose of collecting our student cards as I recall; so we walked 3 hours, and spent about 10 minutes on the grounds. Another day, I walked across a reasonable portion of the Northern Beaches - Sammie estimated it was about 30km after looking at the route on the map. There used to be a lot of walking. As life became busier however, the walking seemed to vanish.. which in hindsight seems quite sad, as it is only when experiencing it again, do I realise just how much I needed it. A little bit of space to just step away from the world and be calm. What perhaps is most surprising, is to be discovering this when I am closer to the city than ever before, literally thrust into the heart of a busy busy suburb full of busy busy people, and surrounded by an environment that compels activity. Yet, there is peace.

Today’s walk home felt like I was in Malaysia during the rainy season. The air is warm and sticks to your skin; slightly overweight droplets of rain scatter themselves inconsistently around the place. The sky is tinged by metallic overtones; scarring of industrialisation peeking out between the hazyness of a smog-like substance that causes the horizon to become blurry and indistinct. After a day of missing my home country, the only thing to do when experiencing this, was to laugh. And sing one of those songs made for singing in the rain.

The intoxicating aroma of young rain had wafted into the apartment by the time I arrived home.. an errant window no doubt had been welcoming it in. I loooove that smell. So much so, I decided to simply sit outside and enjoy it for a while.. let it soak in. Mmmm.

After witnessing two cars bump heads, I came back inside and watched an old favourite - Singing in the rain - come on, after a day like today, why not? I’m laughing at clouds!

Billy Joel. It’s near 24 hours later, and I am still reeling from the performance; I know not what I expected, but whatever it was, it certainly was not what I got. The word ‘Entertainer’ is more than simply the title of one of his songs — that is simply what he is. A year shy of 60 had nary an effect on any part of the concert (aside from a few more wrinkles on the face than I imagined, but it happens) - he was not glued to the seat, and carried himself with a verve that would make someone half his age jealous.

What sets Billy Joel apart from others is that in a career spanning decades, he knows exactly how to put a smile on the face of his audience. Experience borne from the time playing as a piano man probably plays a large part in that - and I suspect the crowd at Acer Arena was overall easier to please than those who were sharing a drink called loneliness. He certainly had us forgetting about life for a while!

Thanks to Sammie for the photo!

The lighting technicians looked like they were having the time of their life in the concert - even if some of their work was brought into question. The first thing Billy did at the concert was remind everyone in his New Yorker drawl that everyone was equal in the concert - in that at some point, or in some way, we all had bad seats… but that was okay, since he needed money from the sale of even those nosebleed seats. Even those who shelled out $349 for the front section had cause for alarm since there was a veiled reference to the sheer number of lighting rigs that lay directly above their heads. Hello sword of Damocles!

Here are some random thoughts from the concert:

- Billy is highly skilled with a microphone stand: he could throw, catch and spin it with any combination of limbs. He can also accidentally throw the stand into the audience. Oooops. The $349 tickets never seemed so worthwhile.
 - Just the way you are.. I love that song so much. Mmmm He also explained the back story to the song. I need one of those memory-wiping devices from Men in Black now.
- Jamie and Burnsie standing up for River of Dreams, only to get literally pulled right back into their seats by the lady behind them! How rude. Especially considering she was assaulting Jamie with her knees for the duration of the concert.
- Billy introduced a song as “a song you may have heard in church”. The opening guitar riff immediately identified it - Highway to Hell. That’s right. Most unexpected song, ever. Billy played guitar for it, and one of his guitar roadies of 30 years sang - and to his credit, I thought the guy did a pretty fine job at it too.
- Burnsie knowing all the words to We didn’t start the fire. JFK blown away what else do I have to say! So so impressed.
 - She’s always a woman to me. Just wow. I think even Billy was surprised with the amount of the audience that sang along with him; he drew away from the microphone temporarily just to sway and listen to the sound of it all.
 - Christmas in Fallujah. I’d not heard this before the concert, but learnt it was released last year. If you’ve not heard it, have a listen / look. Quite a powerful song..
- How do you get a lot of Australians to sing a song together? Waltzing Matilda began the second encore - he didn’t sing, but just played and listened.
 - Piano Man - the song of his life and one of my favourites .. just a magical way to finish the concert off; especially wonderful to share it with friends that love it too!

So, I’m still on quite the high (and was for most of the day at work..), and that has been only fuelled further with the news of the Face to Face concerts starting up again. That’s right, Billy Joel and Elton John together once more. Apparently it will be late 2009/2010 till they get Down Under.. but I am so there. If anyone else is keen, please say so!

For the past few days, I’ve had this song stuck in my head. I’ve been trying to work out why. Something about the beat, something about the chorus line… it just drew me in. Hypnotic.

now i’m looking for a reason why
you even set my world into motion

OK, so the proverbial ‘what is the meaning of life’ question is there, but even that.. I’m not sure is what really pulls me into this song. Everyone goes through stages of questioning their own existence/purpose; so it’d be a little too cheesy for it simply to be that.

It occurs to me that the song only really got stuck in my head on the drive home from Victoria. An awesome road trip it was, and I have many a fond memory of my time there writ in my mind. The weekend was in a somewhat quieter part of Vic; one not crowded by vast quantities of man-made light. Something that really struck me on the first night was that the night is actually.. quite dark.

Dark and beautiful.

I’ve not seen so many stars in my life, and was a sight I wish I was able to capture. I’m almost ashamed to acknowledge just how much of a city slicker I am, having always had my view of the night sky so dominated by unnatural hues. This was different however, the conception of the infinite did not stray far from my thoughts, as for the first time, I could feel the reaches of the universe going far beyond my comprehension. The sky was a lot bigger of a place than I had imagined, and not all the Isaac Asimov books in the world could reveal that truth any better than my eyes had just conveyed. There were just so many stars up there… I’m almost overwhelmed contemplating what could lie beyond them, how they got there, what systems orbit them… I suddenly have a newfound appreciation for star gazing, so surreal an experience this was.

So it was after this whole visual epiphany began to settle inside my psyche (and it gaining a few minutes of airplay on one of the 3 stations till Canberra), did Black and Gold end up in my head. I suspect the probing nature of the lyrics are actually what appeal the most. It’s hauntingly acute in its perception, touching on a pondersome thought:

’cause if you’re not really here
then the stars don’t even matter

All those stars, that vast endless reaching sky… What is the point of this whole world if God ain’t in it?

i looked up into the grey sky
and see a thousand eyes staring back
and all around these golden beacons
i see nothing but black

i feel a way of something beyond them
i don’t see what i can feel
if vision is the only validation
then most of my life isn’t real

The chorus line keeps repeating “black and gold”, constantly challenging that the stars can’t be just lights (gold) in the sky (black). Is there something beyond the stars? You betcha. It’s no wonder the song got stuck in my head..

So, summer has finally drawn to a close: I refused to wear more than a t-shirt yesterday as my own little element of defiance against the elements. Apparently La Nina is to blame for:

- the wettest summer in over 5 years
- the coolest summer on average in over 10 years
- the least amount of daily sunshine in over 15 years
- not a single day over 31 degrees (first time in over 50 years)

Well… and the destruction of many a roof in many parts of Sydney. On the plus side, the dams are up over 65%, which is incredible too, and we’re finally off El Nino’s back.

Somehow in the midst of all this rain, I went to 3 big concerts. Rather than come on here and gush after each concert “THIS WAS THE BEST CONCERT EVER!!”, I decided to wait till I had seen them all, and then at least I could compare between them.

So, first up was Lionel Richie - 7th December 2007 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Charlotte and I got to the Entertainment Centre in time to catch half of Marcia Hines opening for him. She was incredible; I’d not heard her sing before, and I’m a big believer that judges of talent reality shows should still be able to do what they judge… she certainly did. It mostly consisted of covers, but her voice did not disappoint. She was an appropriate opening act, being a contemporary who sang in the same style and passion - acknowledged by the crowd of 7146 with much support.

There was a roar when Lionel took the stage. He’s not quite 60, but could easily pass for 30. I mean, he really did look good. Stylish, slick, and moved so well too!

His rapport with the crowd was amazing - I think he was surprised that there were this many fans here in Sydney! But he gave us all quite the show. He received an ovation after nearly every song, and welcomed it with what I’ve now discovered is a signature hand flourish (ask me to demonstrate the next time you see me). I sometimes forget just how… smooth he is. In singing Endless Love (a song traditionally done with Diana Ross.. I secretly hoped he’d bring Marcia back on for it), he serenaded the mostly female audience and had most of the crowd swooning. Afterwards, he consolidated his position with the male minority - “Guys… you know.. I’m not fighting with you guys - I’m just warming them up for you. You’re the one taking them home!”, which naturally elicited much mirth.

Of special note was a Commodores medley he performed in the middle Three Times a Lady, Easy and a few others - and as a special treat, it turned out that one of the other original Commodores was in the stadium! So Lionel got him up on stage - I think it was Ronald La Pread - and they played a few songs together. So unexpected!

Most of the songs were cast in the same style as their album counterparts - so on a pure sound level, the songs were mostly the same. Having said that, feeling his passion exude from the stage definitely made a difference in the songs - the emotion of some of the particularly stirring songs like Hello for example, was quite moving.

The concert closed with his biggest hit, All Night Long, and it was on that note did we leave the Entertainment Centre, heading to Manly for a birthday night out and proceeded to party all night long, wearing our Lionel shirts, and proudly basking in the afterglow of the experience that was Lionel.

Recently, Kellie and I visited the latest venue to be graced by Guy Sebastian’s musical talents, one of the places where all performers can be humbled: the Sydney Opera House. It was very much a case of ‘returning to the scene of the crime’, as this was where it all started, where Guy was crowned the first Australian Idol. Being at the Opera House demanded a bit of fancyness, and upon arrival, it was clear that the audience at this concert was far older than the usual Guy fanfare, almost on par with the Elton crowd!

The seats we had were awesome (hats off to Kellie! ). Dead set centre and one level up; it afforded a view of the entire stage, and the choir behind. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. To top it off, it was quite a way through the concert that people even sat in front of us, so the view was mostly uninterrupted. Looking around, there really wasn’t a position in the entire hall that I’d have preferred… except maybe right on stage

The first half of the concert was Guy’s music, ‘remixed orchestral style’… I mean, the tunes were largely untouched, but hearing these tunes created by about 15 violins was pretty amazing! Song selection basically consisted of most of his singles, and a few of his personal favourites that were suited towards his backing. Hearing “Climb Every Mountain” was always going to be a powerful one to experience, this time with a full orchestra behind him… whilst he’s never been able to hit that final note the way he did in Idol, it was still intense and elicited a standing ovation.

What really impressed me during this entire section was the control of the conductor. I’ve honestly never seen much orchestral music, save for school bands, but keeping a tight rein on 30 or so people spread across that area can never be easy. Keeping in mind that Guy’s usual band is a group of like-minded individuals who are very flexible and can work around his constant adlibbing of lyrics and trills, and therein lies the potential for chaos; or at least, a restriction on how much leeway Guy really had. Or so I thought. It didn’t stop Guy from being his usual self with his music, and the power the conductor wielded as he kept the entire orchestra in time with Guy with his song changes was amazing! It was almost like improv classical as all the music paused with an instant’s notice, and then quickly rejoining the fray as Guy returned back to song. Just amazing.

Following the intermission, Guy took up a few of the Beatles’ classics - throwing the gauntlet across time and space at Shannon, he performed a wonderful rendition of Hey Jude that garnered much praise from the audience. He moved onto Elvis and whilst I don’t know Elvis’ music that well, he definitely had some good choices there that suited both his voice and the orchestra behind him. Guy then made a tribute to his dad, and belted out some genuine classics - old blue eyes with ‘The way you look tonight’ (possibly my favourite Sinatra song ever!), and Nat King Cole too!

In a strong move, he also chose to perform a few gospel songs — all quite strong ones, and even a few that I knew! :p So quickly however, it seemed to come to an end, an exhilirating ride that brought an amazing evening to a close. All in all, an awesome concert To witness such talent, in such an inspiring locale… well, you kinda wonder if you can ever get there too!

I discovered that the experience had renewed the vigor for my Australian Idol campaign (remember, vote 1 Fradam!)… somewhat sadly, it appears I’m not the only one.

Idol 2007 has already seen 30,000 singers try out for the show, the same as last year, and thousands tried their luck at Sydney’s Australian Technology Park over the weekend.

Australian Idol began in 2003 and sifted through 20,000 hopefuls in capital cities to find its first winner, Guy Sebastian.

Doh… not as much chance, but we can always hope!

A recent visit to glitzy Star City to see Guy Sebastian on tour with Kellie netted quite an amazing evening. First of all, it was a very different concert to previous ones. There appeared to be less flash and bang… definitely less dancing, yet, an overall richer experience.

It began with, as many people immediately labelled, “a kid”, by the name of Tom Jordan. I kid you not however, the guy had an immense talent for a 13 year old. Given the opportunity of a lifetime in being able to tour with a star like Guy didn’t appear to perturb his lyrical waxing, as he sang a few covers and also a few tunes he had written by himself completely! I especially loved the “I’m too young to have a girlfriend, but too old to cry about it!” song

As for Guy… Quirky humour and silly anecdotes filled the gaps between songs — and as always, preceeded by the inevitable “Can I have the houselights up..?”. Kinda funny in a way, at other concerts, the lead singer often tries to talk to the audience, but it is only after a concert like Guy’s do you realise that the people on stage can rarely even see those who aren’t on stage!

I guess that kind of honesty/taking-the-mickey-out-himself is part of what made it a great concert. At one point, he had his guitar swapped for another one, and quipped with something along the lines of, “apparently, all big rock stars just get their guitars swapped for no particular reason…”. Crazy!

A truly amazing thing to witness, was one dedicated fan and her boyfriend being called onto stage. Turned out the boyfriend had a question for her, and soon, he wasn’t just a boyfriend anymore. I think that is the first actual proposal I’ve ever witnessed… which in hindsight doesn’t actually seem that surprising — I mean, how many people follow other lovers and listen to them as one proposes to the other!? So, that was quite a magical moment, and certainly a night neither of them will ever forget. Especially amazing to consider, it all came from the boyfriend-turned-fiancee emailing Guy, earnestly seeking this chance to show how much he cared for the one he loved… How many artists would reply to a person’s email and allow such an opportunity to unravel on stage? I’m sure it’s not unheard of, but wow.

Another truly special part of the evening was a tribute to Australian music. It seemed like something else… almost intimate, hearing classics like Burn for you (Farnsy) coming from Guy and his band. Certainly rewarding however!

Other interesting parts of the night included sitting a few metres behind the “celebrity table”, i.e. Guy’s girlfriend, her friends, and the other names that support Guy — e.g. Mark Furze from Home & Away and Jennifer Hawkins from.. somewhere, not quite sure I remember where She was sneaky though, and didn’t stay too long in the open. Interestingly enough, given the option of kissing her, Guy declined. What a Guy!
So, I think the conclusion of this post is clear: I will need to grow a fro, enter Australian Idol and win. Malaysian Christians have a good chance I hear!

P.S. If you’re reading this, I expect you to vote for me!

Someone wise once said the grass is always greener on the other side, and whilst listening to one of my favourite older songs — Nik Kershaw’s Wouldn’t it be good, it really hit home just how wrong that could be.

The song addresses the idea of wondering what lies over someone else’s fence — Wouldn’t it be good to be in your shoes? The common concept of “wishing you were in someone else’s shoes” is answered emphatically in the negatory. The idea being, whilst surely, there are individuals whom we aspire to share moccasins with, do we really know everything that goes on in their life? How truly can you know the life of another, and fully understand the problems they face?

All we can do is look at how our life would fare, if placed within a certain circumstance. True enough, there is a Simpsons quote to sum up some of this:

Lisa: It’s horrible being young, nobody listens to me.
Grandpa: It’s rotten being old, nobody listens to me.
Homer: I’m an average white male aged 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are!

I remember being younger and wishing I never grew up. However, I also remember many peers wished they could be older so that they could do all the things that adults did — namely, partying, drinking, working etc. Yet just today at work, two of my colleagues referenced their age, citing they wished they were younger for improved fitness and better memory. Does anyone really know what they want? Young people wishing they were older. Older people wishing they were younger.

As a student, I wished I had graduated so that I didn’t have to do assignments and study for exams, and had the freedom and money to go out and spend time with friends. As a member of the working class, I wish I had the 3 month summer break of a student, and the opportunities to see and meet more people than ever. Do I really know what I want? Wishing I was as free as an employee when busy as a student, wishing I was free as a student when busy as an employee. Interestingly enough, thinking about being a student also helps remind me of the good of the current situation… and in retrospect, thinking about being an employee would have helped me get through as a student, as it would have also reminded me of the good of being in that environment. But, how did we even get this way?

Being discontent with life seems to always lead down this path — the path of looking at another path and wishing it were your own. The logical solution would be to ‘be content’, to find satisfaction with what we have and let that be that. But that squashes dreams, it inhibits ambition and creates a ceiling that can be difficult to pierce. Somehow, a balance between our desire to do great things with our life, and satisfaction with life’s circumstances, must be reached. That way, our dreams can be realised, and at the same time, we aren’t stuck wishing we were in another person’s shoes.

Finding such a line could consume a life, so in the meantime, it may be worthwhile just to remember two things:

1. If you forget what is good about your current situation, just begin thinking about what situation you want to be in. Then… in that thinking… you’ll be discontent with something — something that was good in your original situation. There you have it! Something good about your current circumstance

2. We never really know what is going on in another person’s life. Nik Kershaw describes it in his song as follows:

You must be joking
You don’t know a thing about it
You’ve got no problem
I’d stay right there if it were you
I got it harder
You couldn’t dream how hard it got it
Stay out of my shoes
If you know what’s good for you
The heat is stifling
Burning me up from the inside
The sweat is coming through each and every pore
Don’t wanna be here no more

We just don’t know sometimes. Maybe that wise guy got it wrong… maybe the saying should go, The grass is always greener… on our side. At least we know what is going on in our life