Sorry I was busy
This is kind of embarrassing, especially since one of my last posts spoke of how I was getting into a writing routine, but here I am over a month later with a well overdue update about what I’ve been doing instead of nurturing Taking It All In.
Firstly I’d like to say Happy New Year everyone…I am not normally particularly fussed about celebrating the passing of time but 2025 has been a year where I got to experience things that I don’t really think I ever will again, at least not crammed into 365 days. I travelled, hiked, swam, danced, cried a lot, laughed more, dossed about (a lot of this), bumped two cars and scraped another and finally I went on tour. I really did live the dream this year, I’ve set myself a pretty high standard for what a year of life should be, so it felt apt to be in London seeing people I love as we counted down the final moments of 2025.
Now 2026 I promise is going to be the year I get it together, that’s not to say life will become serious by any means, but moving to be closer to friends and getting a job that’s not zero hours are my priorities. And I’m actually excited about it. I’m now a wholly more confident person in every aspect of my life and I back myself to do anything I could possibly want to do.
A big reason for this rediscovered confidence is my recent tour with Inspiral Carpets, and it’s also my biggest excuse for not keeping up with any writing for Taking It All In. I use this phrase all the time, but it’s difficult to put into words how much this experience meant to me. I began in a position that I thought was really pushing me out of my comfort zone and I ended the tour completely in my element with a wealth of knowledge of what to do, how to act, the ability to predict what people want, how they’ll react and ideally prevent any disappointment. Now touring with Inspiral Carpets is definitely a unique experience, to be with a band and crew that all actually get along seems to be a rarity. And to be with a band that are still around after over 30 years together is a pretty crazy first experience of touring. I’m extremely extreeeemely lucky to have got this opportunity, sometimes I find it difficult to justify as being able to do something such as this without significant experience within the music industry is pretty unheard of. But I don’t want to discredit myself too much, because I am good at it, it’s just hard to break into this world without knowing someone that can give you a leg up and I’m happy to admit that.
It was quite strange to feel so welcome and comfortable among a group of 50/60+ year old men, that’s more a credit to the band and crew though, they are simply really great people. Must give a special mention to Graham, who taught me everything I now know about touring - having repped Suede, The Killers and Take That on their UK tours - and Dave Brad, multi millionaire and humble merch seller. I’m not sure I expected even a year ago that I’d be where I am now, but I am now glad that I was rejected for that awful medical supply internship and many others, I knew that things didn’t feel right when I was applying and now I have been validated.
So anyway the tour, I think my favourite part about it to be honest is being in the know, strutting around with my triple a pass, nosying around backstage at Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Albert Hall - and London too my sister and friends were there so it was cool to get to show what I get to do and how much I enjoy it (although I was taken the mick out of a bit in the morning for being drunk - I disagree with this). My favourite show I reckon was Leeds, the Tim Peaks crew were there, I got to be part of the safety briefing (sounds boring but again, I was in the know) - the crowd were a little stiff at first but the second half of the show they were bouncing. I’d love to have said Manchester but I’ve learnt that the ‘home’ shows can be quite stressful - lots of family and expectations from fans which I didn’t really feel in the other cities - plus I had a 100+ person VIP experience to manage when all the others had been 10-15 people. Still it went really well, I really enjoyed all the q&a sessions, I learnt a lot more about the band and their history, stories about their roadie Noel Gallagher and 14 year old drummer Craig. I also really liked Nottingham’s gig, this was my first full weekend and we went for a curry after, I have inserted a picture of this.
After tour I had a few days catching up with myself, it’s weird, I had plenty of sleep and downtime but I think I completely neglected anything social, exercise and this website so rotted in a bed for a couple of days then before I knew it it was Christmas! A pretty quiet one but still really lovely and I think that’s what made me so excited for new years, having not really done much in the run up to Christmas I really made up for it over new years and the rest of January too. I’m currently finishing this piece on the train down to Bournemouth for a triple birthday, I don’t think I’ve had a month so busy in ages - I’m actually in desperate need of some work hours to supplement my spending.
Finally I’d like to say thank you everyone for your patience, I have been writing a lot in my notebook, just struggling to type it up formally.
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Coming back to this 9 months later, I am completely and utterly unsure why I never posted this but here we go - I'll be back soon, I PROMISE THIS TIME.
Anyway, lots of love
Mia
