Ready to be like water?

In recent years I have nearly always woken on New Year's day despite the toll of the party of the night before with a motivational vibe about me. This year is no different and I have to admit that it makes me come here and write, I get that push to exercise my writing muscles without hesitation even though I have to sit and think about what to write each time once I get here. It's like I have to share something with you, a psychological new-year-resolution contract if you will.

So this is where I start to vomit on the page  write crap  blame the cat for walking on my keyboard lexically stutter and endlessly hit the delete button, thinking maybe my muscles aren't quite ready to be back in the writing gym just yet. Or at least not ready to contemplate the new year and life ahead. But somehow I find my way, rather like life itself (Well I have already stumbled through a paragraph and a half). I think it doesn't matter how good you have it, a tough decision or situation will always come along at some point, even from a young age. Especially at this festive time of year upon that first realisation of who Santa Claus really is and the fantasy you have lived with until then (Shit, maybe I should have put a SPOILER ALERT in here...).

Please bear with me a sec while I have my geek moment here - like the previous two Christmases, I took my nephew to see the new Star Wars movie, this year being the Last Jedi (I can be a geek in peace with him). At 12 years old he has started to digest the ins and outs of the whole franchise and how it is all linked. On the way home afterwards we talked about our favourite parts of the movie, and I mentioned the bit where Rey and Kylo Ren are caught in a suspended lightsabre tug-of-war moment. It was a crucial scene in the idea of this movie, essentially a battle between light and dark; how Kylo Ren struggled with his inner battle in the dark and the pull of his conscience and light past as Ben Solo, then Rey who struggled with this new being and growing feeling of the force inside her and to not pass over to the dark side, each trying to seduce the other to their side of the sabre.

Isn't that life itself?

Maybe Star Wars movies are not so out of this world after all. Not one of us is an angel, we all have something ón the 'dark side of life', something that we battle with even from time to time, whether a vice or just a mood. Even Han Solo, who had no 'force powers' but helped defeat the Empire was a smuggler and not your average tax-paying ideal citizen.

It is the balance which is crucial, with a steady tilt towards the light like those late spring days feeling the first days of heat, turning your head to the sun's rays. That's the energy we need, so set your antenna and let it beam it's way through to you. As important as our dose of Vitamin D is, so is the ability it gives us to smile. I have created myself a life in both Italy and Spain where I get the sun in abundance - you may call me lucky but it is not about being lucky, I have worked hard and sacrificed to be here. We have to be prepared for the opportunity coming around and to be able to grasp it, even more so in a greyer England where I come from. We can't help to love this world when we smile.

So where do we start in this new year? Even when we don't have a sunny day? We need to smile at the thought that the sun will come eventually. We need to be ready. We need to keep training, to be ready to attack when that moment comes but also ready to defend. Wake up in the morning and play your song, play it all day long. Tune in and be a part of every bass line, guitar riff, keyboard melody and beat, then bring it all together. Day or night, young or old. It's never to late to tango, so stay sexy. Keep moving forward and you will find the way with goodwill.

My path is changing as I write and I don´t have a map or a navigator. Bruce Lee famously said: "Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless. You put water in to a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water in to the bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water in to a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend." Water is life, it is not the first time I have said it,; read here: Words flow with water

I know I will need to adapt, to flow down the river. And always, always have faith. I also think back to the first time I wrote here for a new year; read here: Back to basics. Things haven't changed. Each year there is also a need to shred the excess and keep things simple. We all need solid foundations.

Bruce Lee never specified what martial art he did, he did not like to create styles, he created his own art. So be like Bruce, be like water my friend. Keeping your top on is optional, especially at this time of year, unless you are a Geordie football fan of course ;-)

Happy New Year!