Midlife Crisis and The Cat Empire

Midlife Crisis and The Cat Empire

Last night the years melted away and left me in my 20’s dancing (with all joints creaking and aching) to a young band in The O₂ Academy in Bournemouth. The Cat Empire are an Australian band that have been around for 10 years. They don’t look painfully young so I am guessing they are in their 30s. Their music is a self described mix of Reggae, Hip Hop, Latin, Jazz Fusion and they were truly an amazing experience to see live.

http://www.thecatempire.com/

Apart from the fact that I took my 13 year old daughter and my husband, it reminded me of my own teenage years. The audience were mostly in their late teens and twenties with a few ‘oldies’ thrown in. Us older supporters managed to sidle our way upstairs to the balcony which left the crush and mayhem of the dance floor to those whose bodies were better able to handle it.

Now here is the thing about my mid-life crisis – it isn’t a full blown crisis yet for one thing – I am seeing it more as a mid-life transition. I genuinely didn’t care what people thought of seeing a large middle aged woman with her grey roots showing through, bopping (aka wobbling) to the music. When I was younger I would have done the same but back then I had to make a supreme effort not to care what other people thought!!

At the end of the gig I did for a moment want to leave my ‘day’ job as a wife and mother and follow The Cat Empire around the world as a groupie. I fell totally in love with them, their music obviously, the way they look, their lyrics, their attitude, everything and in my besotted state for a while I wished I could live my life again so that I would be in a position without responsibilities to do something mad like following a group around the world. Of course what suddenly appeals in my midlife…. transition is the thought of losing all the responsibilities for a chance of being free again to do whatever appeals for that day.

And yet....here I am, sitting outside my son’s English tutor's house, being responsible… the tea in ready in the oven and only needs to be switched on when I get home, my treatment room is ready for work and I will be working from 5 until 915 tonight. Yet I am looking out across the Dorset hills with (believe it or not) a rainbow across the blue sky, and wondering how (or why?) I turned out so normal? I didn’t do anything normal until I was 30 and got married and had children, up to then it was all completely crazy and some part of me maybe hasn’t quite had enough of that yet…….

 

Midlife crisis tip No.1: Don’t give up your life to become a groupie for a young band and follow them around the world. It would only end in tears.

Hey…. back to the cooking….

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