116 days.
A lot can happen in that amount of time. A lot has happened in that amount of time… just not a blog.
Sorry.
Now that’s over with, let me tell you what’s been going on in this little thing called life.
At the start of the summer, I knew this one was going to be different to normal, I had no summer holiday booked for the first time in literally forever.
I know it sounds ungrateful and rather pompous, that’s because it was.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunities to fly away somewhere hot or adventurous in the summer months, usually Canada, to escape the dreary, wet so-called summer here in England.
But this year was a change, and one that I am now so grateful for.
I decided to embrace the English summer, to soak in the spontaneousness that comes with earlier mornings and later nights, time with family and friends, and do things on my doorstep that I’d usually neglect.
I turned 22 in July. I love having my birthday in the middle of summer, I think it’s only rained twice on my birthday from my memory.
There was no huge party, no mega gifts, just a delicious meal at my favourite restaurant with my mum, dad and our closest family friends, that to me was perfect.
Being 22 is weird, because it can be such a variable stage in life.
Some days I wake up feeling like a 40-year-old business owner with a million things to do, people depending on me and places to be.
But then the next day I will roll out of bed at midday, live in my dressing gown and mope about like a 17-year-old in summer holidays that just came back from a house party the night before.
It’s a great age, but it’s all about balance.
Balancing work and pleasure. Balancing fitness and burn out. Balancing TikTok and LinkedIn. Balancing independence and dependence. Balancing love and loneliness.
Everyone’s balance is different, I’ve learnt not to compare and instead embrace my own quirky balances.
One of the coolest things I did this summer was go to Glastonbury.
This has been on my bucket list for years and luckily, I got the opportunity to go for free!
How? You may ask. Well, I got a last-minute call, literally a few days before the festival started, to be a production coordinator for the universities production team who helps operate a stage at the festival.
“YES”, I obviously replied with, having no idea what things I had planned in my diary already, what my role actually meant, and not a clue who else was going, but that didn’t bother me one bit.
Before I knew it, I was leading an army of about 25 students onto a coach to Glastonbury, bags packed and tents loaded up, we set off, but immediately had to turn around as we had left a student behind in the toilet… not the best start.
I was consistently learning on the job, in so many ways.
I am so bad at remembering names, so there was a lot of “alright mate” or “hey bud” until I got familiar with faces.
I had never worked at a festival before, in fact it was only my second festival ever, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be like when I went to Reading in 2019 as a 17-year-old.
My main role was to make sure that the workflow was managed, such as rotas, negotiating problems, distributing jobs, and wholly ensuring everyone is okay.
I knew I could do that, I’m a good organiser, director of people (in a good way) and most importantly a people person.
What I had no clue on was what other people could and couldn’t do, their work rate, their organisation, so that was the tougher bit.
It was early mornings and late, late nights for about 5 days, non-stop music and lights, so as each day went on, the moral was lowering.
But the one promise I made to everyone was that they were going to see the acts they wanted to watch, I promised there was going to be a balance of work and play.
I stuck to my promise. Every single person got to see their favourite acts perform. Apparently, that has never happened before, so the satisfaction I got from that was immense.
There was a moment on the Sunday evening, the last night, at about 11:30pm, where our stage was quiet, we were knackered, and we had about two hours of nothing until we had to de-rig our stage.
I got everyone together and congratulated them all on a brilliant week, I then proposed we all go to the crew bar and let every last bit of energy out and savour the moment.
Everyone agreed, and it was one of the most wholesome moments in my life. Everyone let their hair down, dancing like no one was watching, having a drink, hugging, cheering, singing, dancing… all with people I had no idea who they were prior to this week.
For those wondering what Glastonbury is like… it is truly magical.
A place full of peace and free thinking, vibrant colours, and the best vibes, I could talk about it for hours.
I saw all the headliners, but my favourite act was Coldplay… I sang, I screamed, I cried, I danced, it was everything I expected and more.
Click this link to see a short video I made from my time at Glastonbury…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9CapB5i44s/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Speaking of crying, I absolutely sobbed at the last Grand Tour episode that was released in September.
I have watched every single Top Gear and Grand Tour episode ever released, it has been the backbone for entertainment in my life, and to know there will never be another show, or trio like, is so sad.
The humour, the chemistry, the cars, the comments that can’t be repeated in today’s world, it really was a once in a lifetime entity… I’ll still watch old episodes almost every week.
I’ve done many miles in my car this summer throughout the cricket season.
My own season was alright, there were so many games cancelled for rain but on the odd occasion when the sun was out, I played.
Despite a dodgy knee and nerve damage in my shoulder, I still gave it everything.
But the more exciting cricket was when I was commentating and presenting, I bloody love it.
I started doing this last summer and it has now grown rapidly in terms of production, exposure, and importance of games.
I was back and forth to the picturesque Wormsley Estate Cricket Ground, in Buckinghamshire, all summer, it was almost like my second home.
Interacting with players, networking with professionals, it was a summer of growth.
I do love being in front of camera, not because I’m vain, but because why not be in front of the camera? Get your face out there, become THE guy.
I got back into reading, well for a short while at least, having completed Matthew McConaughey’s book ‘Greenlights’.
He is one of my favourite actors, mainly because of his lead role in one of my favourite films ever – ‘Interstellar’, but also for a few cheesy romcoms like ‘How to lose a guy in 10 days’.
His book really grabbed my interest.
It was more than a biography, it was about navigating life, it was motivational, it was about putting things into perspective, turning red lights in life into green ones, knowing when to floor it to catch that green light, knowing when to divert at a potential red light.
A must read.
I finished the book just a few days before the 10-year anniversary re-release of the film Interstellar, which I took my mate Freddie with so he could watch it for the first time.
Seeing it on the big screen was magical, a proper movie.
This year so far has felt like a movie, a long, yet thrilling one at that.
And with just a couple months left of 2024, it is a reminder to be that main character in life, you are the lead actor in your own film, who cares what the critics say?
“You just gotta keep livin, man. L-I-V-I-N.”
Read my previous blog here…
