This Week’s Say

If Cody Simpson can be a professional singer, a professional swimmer, theatre performer and then a professional singer again all before the age of 29, then you can do anything.

Yes, being a blonde, white, conventionally attractive man has probably aided in his ability to be successful in the music industry at a young age, but you cannot deny the amount of work, training and struggle that would have gone into breaking into professional swimming. And then being successful at it. We’re talking going to the Commonwealth Games to represent your country, levels of successful.

I’ll admit that I laughed when I heard he was venturing into swimming. Who did he think he was? He was one of those local celebrities that I hadn’t heard of in so long, I-iyiyi believed he was almost obsolete in the Australian cultural landscape. Then he proved us all wrong and I feel like a fool and quite frankly, I would love the opportunity to meet him, have dinner with him and force him to instill inspiration in me. 

I’ll take anything to inspire me nowadays despite me being susceptible to being earnest and inspired by the slightest of things. I’ll take a touching anecdote or a video of SNL cast member auditions. The sheer amount of time I spend on the internet, not consuming inspirational content, has me worried that I am limiting my potential. 

So, I turn to you. Please direct me to things, places and people you find inspiration from because I am afraid of what is happening to us as a generation. Yes, I’m generalising, there are many inspired and inspiring people around me.

I just hope with all the media and content that is thrown our way and pushed in front of our faces, that we can remind ourselves that we have a choice with what to consume, and be more intentional with that consumption to be more things that feed us and benefit us, rather than confuse us and constrain us.

Especially at this time in history, I recognise the privilege and safety to explore I have at my disposal, and don’t want to ignore it. I want to use it and squeeze everything positive and beneficial and healthy I can from what I have access to.

I am one glass of white wine deep at a Northside pub, is this too much?

To bring things back to Cody Simpson, because that’s where this started, he is much more than just my best friend’s childhood crush, he is an example of the Australian freedom and a beacon of hope, breaking away from the compartmentalisation of the Australian culture that forces us into categories like it’s going out of style.

I’m going to get another wine.i