Today I woke up and walked outside to crisp, frigid weather. The sun was out, but it was official- London’s perpetual season, autumn, had finally come. I walked through Foldgate Street, spilled into a busy Bishopsgate. As I marched towards Bank, my iPod filled my ears with Coldplay’s most recent album – Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends. I always thought that was an anticlimactic title. Not very catch, is it (granted, Coldplay never really looked for that anyway)? Viva La Vida, long live life... Or Death and All His Friends…?
The moods in the songs swayed from sentimental melancholic, to feisty, to stoically exuberant. The album had become a very big part of my life recently. I have been listening to it practically every day since the beginning of September. I will admit, it’s a masterpiece. “Strawberry Swing” and “Lovers in Japan” go through my head even when my iPod is tucked away as I work.
Work. The stress and the hours. Inconceivable to me just 2 months ago, now it all holds a firm grip on my life. I know as the banks of Canary Wharf take a tumble and as the finance world goes to hell in a hand basket, I’m lucky to even have a job this good – but my carefree days of floating around London in the afternoons and the Continent in the weekends are gone.
The first few 2 or 3 weeks it really got to me. Seeing JS’s life – so advanced in his career he really has little to worry about, be it time off or ‘climbing the ladder’ – made things a little harder as I judged myself in his frame. It was and in many ways still is a harsh perspective.
Now as I sink into things more comfortably, and see all the blessings that are around me – a beautiful boyfriend, a great job, and a bright future – I am ready to go back to being my chirpy self. In control, sane, and always looking ahead.
After all, isn’t that what they meant when they thought of that name for the album? Choose life, or wither on the vine.
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