Earlier this week as I sat on the train home, I decided to listen to American Pie by Don McLean. I had found myself singing this song a few days before and it had been in my head ever since. I listened to the entire song (I always forget just how long it is), and then my iPod continued to the next song. I had bought the album some years ago on the basis that I knew that I liked the song American Pie and another of his song’s ‘Vincent’. On listening to it I decided that I actually did not like any of the other songs and have not listened to them since (though for some reason kept them on my iPod…).
However on this particular day I decided that I would leave it playing…. just to see. I found myself really connecting with the songs, tapping my feet and attempting not to sing along (it is usually a bad move to start singing along to songs that only I can hear when I am on a fairly quiet train). I have now listened to the entire album several times since and it led me to think about how our tastes change over time.
Songs that I used to love I now can’t bear to listen to and songs that I used to hate fill me with joy (or occasionally that mild sense of depression that is actually quite joyful). I used to have an extensive list of foods that I absolutely and completely hated, that I couldn’t even stand to put in my mouth. Nowadays the majority of these foods are now on the list of foods that I love (with the exception of aubergines/eggplant obviously, they remain vomit inducing). For years my favourite colour was green and then for most of my teenage and adult life it became blue. I am now gradually beginning to favour red… though blue will always have a special place in my heart if only because a lot of the things that I own are blue and it would expensive to replace them all.
It is interesting to consider the changes in your life, in your personality and in your tastes. It is also interesting to consider what has remained the same. For example, I still love to dance, though I have never had any kind of lessons… I dance on my own as I move around the house, I dance in my head more often than not and I make little dancing steps as I walk down the street. I cannot remember a time that I have not done this and I hope that it will remain.
I think that we too easily forget the parts of our personality that make us so special, so unique, so wonderful. Our lives are a story, even if we think that we are not interesting. We should be proud of who we are and we should strive to stay true to ourselves.
But there’s no need for turning back
`cause all roads lead to where I stand.
And I believe I’ll walk them all
No matter what I may have planned.
