I don't give a toss...

I’ve been thinking about starting this blog for awhile.  Websites offering advice about writing good ones all say the first entry is important because it sets the tone and establishes a writing style for the rest of the blog.  So I’ve been worried.  About the tone I want to set and the style I’ll establish.

And then I was inspired by a 20-something young man on a train.  He had an iPod with big neon pink headphones, a microphone plugged into nothing, and he had Downs Syndrome.  He was dancing in whatever way he felt moved by the music, and singing along quite loudly with the lyrics he knew (and there  weren’t many, so it ended up sounding a bit like “la-nah-ba-nah-ba-Like it’s your birthday! Nah-nah-mah-la-la Like it’s your birthday! Fa-la-ma-nah-nah, drinking champagne like it’s your birthday!” over and over and over and over again). 

He was having a great time, and in doing so was entertaining everyone else who was fortunate enough to have sat near him.  He blatantly didn’t give a toss about what the rest of the world thought, which was ironic because everyone on the train was loving him.  Almost everyone was smiling, and not in a “laughing at him” way.  Of course, he wasn’t laughing at himself, so we couldn’t be “laughing with him” either, but there were smiles that reflected the joy he was providing others, simply by being able to ignore social norms and express himself.

I was gutted when he got off 3 stops before mine.  I would have stayed on as long as he did just to watch him perform (especially because just before he got off the train he changed the song to JT’s “I’m Bringing Sexy Back”!)  He made my day.

I thought about him the rest of my commute back.  How was it I could be so inspired by his dance moves and singing style, and at the same time be so nervous about starting a blog because I’m worried about the tone I’ll set?

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to sing into a microphone for the entertainment of Melbourne commuters, at least not without copious amounts of alcohol, but I can start a blog.  And I will.  And I don’t give a toss about the tone.