April, the month to have my shit together
Helloooooo and welcome to my monthly blog! Whether you are a regular reader or brand new, this is the place where I document my journey through the music industry (and life in general). The aim is to be as honest and authentic as possible and discuss matters that are close to my heart. I am a female singer, environmentalist and sometimes a bloody nightmare, so hopefully there is something here that puts a smile on your face or pushes you to make a positive change! Either to me are bloody great outcomes! Happy reading BITCHES!!
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC
PEOPLE!!!! This is a very exciting day for me as I can share some RELEASE NEWS WITH YOOOOUUUU!! I am delighted to announce that the first single to be released from my upcoming EP, The World Had a Plan, will be 'VICE'!! The single will be released on Friday 3rd June at midnight, so put that date in your calendar (YAAAASSSS)!! To those of you that subscribe to my mailing list, as a little gift, you will be able to exclusively purchase the track before it is released!! So if you haven't subscribed, then DO ITTTTT!! I'm so thrilled to finally be releasing new music as we have been working on this EP for aaaaaaaggggesssssss, so I'm over the moon to hear what you think! (to subscribe, scroll RIIIIIIGHT to the bottom of this page)
I will also be performing the track for the first time (AAAAHHHH) at my gig on Friday 20th May, in the gloriously central location that is The Spice of Life in Soho, London!! So if you don't have tickets, please purchase them below! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!
I will delve into more detail around the track over the course of the release, but it is ultimately about a rebound relationship and how GLORIOUS it can make you feel, but also how DAMN toxic it can be if you haven't dealt with the initial loss!! Lots of historical heartache in this track, but as I've said before, songwriting is like therapy, so it feels GOOOOOOD to look back at darker times and realise how BLODDY FAR I'VE COME! And I really hope this helps listeners to focus through the fog of loss and do what is right for themselves!!!!
Plenty of music coming up throughout 2022, so feel free to keep yourself updated with my blog and social media channels - I'm always waffling on about stuff on there, it's the thing to do right?
PERSONAL FUN TIMES
As I write this, I am a mere four days away from marrying my love, but by the time you read this, I will be a handful of things;
a.) married and rocking the new name of Mrs Eggar (HELLOOOOO everyone)
b.) cruising on a pure and natural high from the joy of the celebrations
c.) probably still hungover and eating anything beige I can get my hands on
d.) wondering if I'll ever have money in my bank account again (LOL)
I honestly CANNOT WAIT for this day!!! At the moment, I have a variety of emotions and feelings flooding my body on an hourly basis!! The main one is pure, heart-stopping fear about the ceremony, which after asking my married friends, isn't as common as it seems!!! Now, this is a weird one as I can stand on stage and sing my little heart out, but declaring my LOVE for him in front of LOTS of people, seems FUCKING TERRIFYING!!! I'm sure it will be fine, but SHIT ME, I'm scared!!
I have also had to up my organisation skills to ANOTHER LEVEL to cover all projects (including but not limited to; preparing a single release, organising a wedding and still doing the 9-5 grind) What I have done is delve into a book by Grace Beverley called "Working Hard, Hardly Working" which is around productivity etc. It sounds a little bit wanky, but it has helped me out and also bought up a few things I've found VERY interesting, which I'll go into a bit more detail on this shortly!!
Here is a little snippet of the fun and frolics we got up to in the month of April; including a half marathon, lots and lots of bikes, a hair appointment at BLEACH, slutty pastries and a sad money plant! HAPPY SCROLLING!!!
THE LAST WORD
The last thing I want to discuss has come about thanks to Grace Beverley's book mentioned earlier, Working Hard, Hardly Working. The books itself looks at how to view your productivity in a different light, inevitably allowing you to become more productive, whilst focusing on looking after yourself. Great for someone like me who bloody loves to streamline a process, but she also touches upon a few topics that I feel are pretty significant to life in general. The one I'm going to chat about today is the concept of 'HAVING IT ALL'! (cue *eye rolls* and *general grunts of annoyance*!)
As a kid, I used to have regular, let's call them disagreements, with my mum about the concept of women having it all! I was on the team 'I Can Have It All' and my mum was adamantly on the 'You Bloody Wish You Could Have It All' team and I was beyond certain that I was right and that my mum was just 'out of touch'. Now, my mum raised four kids, without any support from grandparents whilst my dad worked the 9-5 office slog (which was more like 7am-9pm slog). Luckily, my dad was in a position to be the breadwinner and so my mum could stay at home and take care of us little shits! In my opinion, I could not see why a women couldn't have a career AND a family at the same time!! WHAT IS THE ISSUE, MUMMY!??
The issue is that society tells us we can have it all, but as my mum knows, the reality is very different, so when we struggle to have it all, we think that we are failing, which creates a shitty cycle of pressure! When you then throw social media into the mix, suddenly, as Grace puts it, "we've taken the concept of 'having it all' and multiplied it, squared it, added a few side hustles and subtracted the reality." As we know, social media is where you showcase your best, not your worst and so you rarely (although this is getting more common) show your followers when you are FUCKING FALLING APART, which we've all done, are doing and will continue to do! Grace also mentions that it isn't just about the juggle of motherhood and a career anymore, but actually about managing life too - "friendships, relationships, time to ourselves, going to the gym, looking nice, maintaining good mental health, and also being seen to be doing all of the above". I mean, I'm tired just reading this and I'm not even a mother!!
Now I can imagine that a few people are reading this and thinking 'well that just sounds like life to me' and the reality is that you aren't completely wrong! The issue lies with us not being honest about when the wheels do fall off and getting help! And I don't mean professional help (although I'm not ruling it out), but making changes to re-establish the balance, whether that is saying no to a dinner date with a friend because you had a challenging day at work, sacking off a gym session because you just can't be arsed, ordering a takeaway otherwise you won't have time to walk the dog or simply going to bed early and turning off the latest season of Selling Sunset.
The worst part is that I'm not even a mother yet and the concept of having it all now terrifies me! To the point where we are trying to figure out our finances so that one of us doesn't have to work, which is IMPOSSIBLE!!!! As much as I'd love this to be an option, it just doesn't seem possible in today's world, we've got things like increased utility costs, inflation, expensive travel costs during the kids holidays and sourcing good quality food that doesn't kill the planet - none of these things are cheap anymore! It's a nightmare!!!
The conclusion I have come to is that you need to find a balance!! Yes you can work and have a family, but you might miss important client meetings or be late to pick up the kids!! But that's ok, that's fucking life!!! I'm bracing myself for the challenge and have some wonderful role models around me who are doing a great job at the juggle, not these influencer idiots who showcase only the good bits! I'm ready for it and just hope I can squeeze music in there somewhere, I'm sure the exercise part of my life will be the first to go!! HAHAHAHA!
Waffle over, and blog over!!! Thanks for reading, you delights and please do let me know your thoughts on these topics in the comments! I'd love to hear what you think!! Tune in next month for another update and another load of waffle!! Stay safe and keep being you!
x - Silvre - x
P.S. SIGN UP BITCHES!