Muddy Jukebox - December 2019
There are lots of beautiful, lovely Christmas songs. However, I have to say Fairy Tale of New York is my favourite. The truth is I really do like Christmas. I’m a sucker for a really corny Christmas movie. At Christmas everybody just seems kinder, more generous, more tolerant, more hopeful and we make the time for people we care about more deliberately than any other time of year. I like that. I do think Christmas is a really special time of the year.
However, Christmas highlights both the good in people and reveals the raw pain of loss or suffering also. Even I am noticing my Christmas spirit is somewhat dampened this year, I believe as a result of losing my Pebble this year. Pebble was my spaniel extraordinaire. I probably wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for her and I mean that in all seriousness. She was there for me during the horrific, the horrendous, the very bad, the bad, the okay and the good. And that is why I like this song. It doesn’t tell life as this perfect fairy tale. It’s real.
My life has been anything but a fairy tale for the past eight years as I know is the same for so many with chronic conditions. I am still very hopeful that my health will improve to a level where I can have stable health for many years. And that is the reality of many people with chronic conditions. Their lives are extremely challenging on a repetitive basis and it is really really hard work to find a way to maintain stable health but we are still very hopeful. Together we are far more likely to feel hopeful and achieve our goals. Muddy Care is a community where we strive to achieve our hopes and aspirations for ourselves and for one another, together.
This song tells a story of lost and broken dreams, of disappointment but it is also a story of hope, of the importance of people, of care for one another. The couple in the song may not have much but they still have one another, even after all the fighting and quarrelling and disappointment. If you have someone to lean on, through the good and the bad, life is just that little bit easier and brighter. This song is about the strength of people, of the strength we give one another and how through that strength hope still prevails even in the hardest of times.
Lots of us this year will be single, will have challenging health experiences, will be poor financially, will be suffering from bereavement, will be feeling a sense of pain in some form. This song reminds us that it is people (and pets) that truly matter. It is real in that it that it doesn’t shy away from the reality that life really is messy but the important people stay with you throughout the mess.
So put this on loud, have a dance, have a sing, and remember, if someone is having a hard time, give them some extra kindness, love, care and attention. Give them a hug. Spread some hope this Christmas.
Fairy tale of New York
The Pogues
