Taking care of myself

I am a firm beliver that you are the master of your own mood. And in being so you should always be aware about the things you can do yourself to elevate your mood, not relying on everybody else to get you in a good mood if you are sad, depressed or something like that. For a long time I have been living my life making sure that I keep happy.
Agent Dale Cooper, from the Twin Peaks series, said it best: "Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee."
I have actually been trying to do this ever since I first saw Twin Peaks, quoting it everytime people ask me why I am always so happy, and it has made me a happy camper more than once. This being a metaphore as I really REALLY hate camping but once again explaining more about this will be going off the path of the story at hand.
Therfor back on track... Other than giving myself above mentioned presents once a day, or at least trying to, I have made up my mind that once a month I will do something that will be a little more expencive than your odd cup of coffee. Spending some of my, sometimes, hard earned money on myself doing something special. This brings me to my small story of the day.
Saturday turned out quite ok for me.
A while back I saw that one of my favorite Danish artists Julie Maria was playing a concert in Kolding, which is pretty close to where I live, and in the same city as I work. I didn't even hesitate to buy a ticket and I was looking forward to the concert for about a month before going on Saturday.
I did not go home disappointed. Far from it.
I arrived pretty early because I wanted to be sure to get a good seat/place to stand, bought a beer and settled down at a table near the stage, but not to close as I wanted to be able to see everybody on stage without having to turn my head. I guess I am strange that way?
The concert started and I was struck by instant awe. Julie came on stage. Alone. Only armed with an accustic guitar. And started playing an accustic version, goes without saying, of one of my favorite songs in "Også om Dagen". Great start to a great concert.
After this accustic journey the rest of the band came on stage and the concert went on. Whenever I go to a concert I always hope to hear 3 maybe 4 different songs that I like from the band that is playing. This was the concert sent from heaven.
The 4 songs that I was hoping to hear came as numbers 1 through 4 respectfully, and from there it only got better.
The concert lasted for about an hour and after playing the last notes Julie announced that she and the band would come down and sell some cds and sign some autographs. Yet another point that I had hoped for.
As this autograph-thing was on my wish list I had brought my own cds for Julie to sign. Having bought them a little while back for this occation. And as it was my turn she actually looked pleased to see that I wasn't buying anything but only getting autographs on my already bought cds. We had a small talk about this and that concerning cd singles, and seeing that the line behind me was getting longer and longer the drummer turned to us and pointed this out. I then quickly gave my praises about the concert to Julie and went to the band to ask them to autograph my ticket.
They too seemed genuinely pleased to actually getting this request, and as they were signing it I had a small talk with the drummer. A really nice guy actually. But then again what other choice does he have being confronted by a rambling idiot that is just going on and on about how brilliant the concert was? Yes I admit it. I was a rambling idiot. At least at that specific time.
After getting everything signed I went home and on the train I was going over the experience in my mind while listening to, yes you guessed it, Julie Maria, and updating my Facebook status concerning the concert and my travel home.
As I got home I went onto the official Julie Maria fan site on Facebook and wrote about my experience. Only having praises to write. Then glancing across the page and my own status comments. Long story short here I ended up within an hour of getting home from one of my best concert experiences in a long time buying a new ticket to a new concert with the same artist.
So now I am using my only evening off, on Thursday, going to our nations capital and listening to yet another concert with Julie Maria. This time in Lille Vega.
And this brings me back to my original point.
Last month my monthly present was the concert ticket for Saturday, eventhough it wasn't expensive it is not something I do on a regular basis, hence making it into the "big present" category. This month my big present for myself is a spur of the moment trip to Copehagen listening to yet another concert with the lovely Julie Maria. And on that note I can only tell you all that I am very much looking forward to Thursday.
I will leave you with a few more videos/songs from Julie Maria. Maybe hearing them you will too wil become a fan? They bring a smile to my face. How about your's?
Evelyn
Gør Det Kort
Uden Hinanden (This was the theme-song for the Christmas show "Pagten" from last year)