Inspiring

This post is actually about writing...so give it a chance, and wait for the preamble to finish before you say TLDR.

The new Blink-182 album is out today.

Blink-182 has long been one of my favorite bands. Particularly Tom DeLonge, their guitarist. His voice is just something I love to listen to, and his melodies never fail to hook their way into my brain. 

For a long time, he was out of the band, and did things in another band that he started when Blink-182 broke up. Those songs thrilled me too, but not quite as much as when he was in Blink-182.

Blink-182 brought in this guy, Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, to replace Tom for a few albums, and those songs were okay, but way less satisfactory than the Blink-182 songs from when Tom was in the band.

Well, an act of God happened, and the band is back together. I really mean it. It took one of the other band members getting stage 4 cancer for the three of them to realize that they are being stupid and wasting their time not being Blink-182. 

They broke up the first time, then got back together when Travis Barker, the drummer, got in a plane crash and nearly died. It's scared them enough to reconnect and patch things up, but they didn't have it figured out, and they broke up a second time.

Now Mark Hoppus, the bassist, had cancer. When he beat it, they got back together as a band again, and this time they were all thinking, "how many more next times will we get before one of us actually dies and it's all over?"

You can hear that sentiment coming out all over the place in the songs on the record. The title track, "One More Time," is all about the history of the band and how they've finally learned their lesson.

There's a song called, "You Don't Know What You Got," that's all about Mark making his way through cancer and chemotherapy.

And then there's the reason for this post. The first song on the album is called, "Anthem Part 3". It's a pretty fun song, and I love how it calls back to the similar styles of "Anthem" and "Anthem Part 2" from their albums of long ago (it especially draws on "Anthem Part 2" if you ask me). However, I also found the lyrics to be particularly poignant and inspiring. The guys are talking more about themselves and their issues and problems and how they are leaving them behind, but I can take those same words and apply them to myself instead, and become emotional and inspired.

So, here's the song:

So, what am I going on about? Well, they talk about being in trouble, having hard times in life, but not letting them beat you. Instead, they say follow your dreams. When I apply it to my own life, and my own attempts at making art, I can't help but see a little bit of similarities between me and Blink-182.

Back in 2019, it seemed like I had it all together. I started a program of writing every single day with the goal of reaching 300,000 words that year (and I mean from one birthday to the next birthday when I say year). Surprisingly for everyone who knew me, I actually achieved that goal. However, unsurprisingly to everyone who knew me, once I hit the goal, I slacked off and let all the habit-forming progress I'd made dissipate.

I needed to start over again, but I floundered in self-pity and depression due to the state of shit during Covid-19, and it wasn't until 2022, when I made another goal to write every day and see if I couldn't repeat what I'd achieved in 2019. I started in July, and went strong for five months, but I let a family tragedy knock me off my game, and before you knew it, I was back to my slacker ways again, writing nothing.

I've made plans, done a few stints of getting back at the grindstone, but not managed to succeed yet.

But I'm about to have another birthday, and every time one of those grim reminders of my upcoming demise rolls around it makes me think about 2019 and the glorious success I achieved from 2019 to 2020. I could call myself a real writer at that time, and that's all I've ever wanted to do.

So, there's a little bit of similarities. Blink-182 had it, lost it, got it back, lost it again, and now they're finally getting it right again. I had it, lost it, got it back, lost it again, and want to finally get it right again.

So, when, "Anthem Part 3," made me think about my own personal failures and put them in to the song, I couldn't help but think that I should be like Blink-182, and finally get it right this time. The chorus hits, and the two singers harmonize the following lyrics: 

This time, I won't be complacent.
The dreams I gave up and wasted.
A new high, a new ride, and I'm on fire.
My old shit ends here tonight.

I can't help but think that this song came out a week before my birthday for a reason. The universe is trying to tell me that it's time. Get back at it, do it just like you did before, and don't let it fall away this time. Don't be complacent and give up and waste your dreams. It's time that my old shit ends. Tonight.

Then the bridge comes in, and Mark Hoppus sings:

And after you had the time of your life.
Flat lined and led toward the light.
You'll despair the wreckage and find
No one gave a fuck that you died!

What would that be like to be on your deathbed, as both Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus were at one point in their lives, and think about what you did in your life? Of course, I've had some amazing things happen in my life. I've had a wife and four wonderful kids that I helped raise toward adulthood, and that can't be scoffed at, but I also had dreams that I haven't achieved. The worst thing would be to look at my life and just see the wreckage of those dreams. Will no one give a fuck that I died (except hopefully my kids) because they never even knew that I was alive to begin with? Or will I write like I wanted to and put stories into people's lives that make them grieve at least a little upon hearing the news that I'm gone?

The song finishes up with Tom DeLonge singing:

"It's my head, it's my mind
All made up, it's alright
If I fall on some nails
If I win or set sail
I won't fail
I WON'T FAIL"

And that's the Anthem. Go for it. Make up your mind and go for it. Don't quit and you won't fail. So, that's what I'm going to do. Just like in 2019, I'm going to start writing on my birthday (maybe even a little before, I don't know. Why not, right?) and I'm going to write straight through to my next birthday. And then I'm going to write straight through to my next birthday. And then to my next. And so on and so on ad infinitum. 

As I did in the past, November will be my month to get in the swing of things. My goal for the month will be simply to write every day no matter how small the word count. The point is to get into the habit. December will be to write 500 words every day. Then January goes to 1,000 every day. From there on out, it's stays at 1,000 until I reach 300,000...probably, anyhow. I may raise it higher if I think I can push myself further. We'll see how it goes. 

All I know is that this time, I won't be complacent. When I finish out this year, I'll make another goal for next year, probably one that's bigger and better. And so on and so on.

I'll be back with updates frequently. Can't wait to see you there.