Life-Impact

How much of a life-impact do the things we ‘enjoy’ have on us?

People ask me on a regular basis because of the part-time job I have, what else I do. When I tell them I’m at University, they ask what I’m studying, why I am studying English Literature, what made me do so, what I want to be etc.

An obvious answer, I enjoy literature - I want to write. But, recently whilst in a mist of stress and confusion, as anyone who has been to University (or College) will know the feeling all too well, that there are no clear choices as to why I’m here.

I could date back to my childhood yet for simplicity, I’ll withdraw and I’ll backtrack only as far as the summer before I started University. I was working as a Marketing Assistant for a Language College, and I’d applied and successfully been accepted for a place on a Marketing Degree at a prestigious University. I was heavily into my music back then, not that my love has dwindled, (it has just been sidelined for more important responsibilities). I unfortunately cannot remember how, albeit the path of a British Indie-Rock band called ‘Maximo Park’ aligned with mine. Incase you’re interested in knowing more about them, all that is really important to know is that they are lyrically very good. Many of (if not all) of their songs being able to be read stand-alone as poems and very beautifully at that. I was in aw, I grew up with simple lyrics to simple music (pop-punk). This band single-handedly transformed my future musical collection, I no longer looked for one-liners or ‘fun and meaningless’ lyrics, I instead dominated my collection with romantic poems, songs filled with picture-perfect metaphors and imagery that left my jaw dropped. Of course, I still enjoyed music for the musical goodness it had and classical music remains my favourite genre, but something had changed and made an impact on my mind in a way that nothing ever had before.

A few months after this discovery, I was hit by some bad news, as I’d never really experienced anything negative in my life before, I did not know how to deal with this. I’m not one that could douse myself in alcohol or junk food, so I decided to write in a complex style, much more complex than I had ever written before. I decided to follow this project through to the end even when my melancholy sadness had evaporated.

Alongside my writing and the starting of my Marketing degree, I concluded in my mind that I was undertaking the wrong degree. In a rapid turn of events, I dropped out of the University and was very very fortunate to be accepted onto a course just a few weeks after the start (the degree I’m currently taking).

Two and a half years later and I still find the same thrill in writing as I did that day I tried to cure my unhappiness, and now write when in all variants of moods. This is hardly a biographical acknowledgement as my career has barely begun, though one silly YouTube search a few years has shaped how I’ve spent the past three years of my life, the people I’ve met and the interests I’ve made. I’m intrigued in myself to see how far those first three minutes I spent listening and watching that music video, can take me.