Belle’s Book Club: Wannabe a Rockstar?

I’ve recently read two books that seemed to combine in my head with a bit of bang of recognition. The books in question are Debbie Harry’s recently autobiography, “Face It” and “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k” by Mark Manson.

The thrust of my epiphany was this: Goals and big dreams are important, but you’ve got to love the journey. This is not a new idea but it is solid and perceived wisdom I think – particularly in light of pursuits I find myself drawn to, such as marathon training and novel writing. These two books read consecutively though, brought the notion into sharp focus for me.  Let me tell you more:

FACE IT, Debbie Harry

I had the most innocent of girl crushes on Debbie Harry circa 1978, when I used to watch Top of the Pops, at 7:30pm in my brown and orange carpeted (and wallpapered) council house lounge. This, I know now in my advancing years, was a very cool time to bond with music. And yes, in 1978, my parents were saying “that’s not music” in the way I am sort of implying now.  (They said it would happen). But oh, the things I remember sitting in awe of for 30 minutes on Thursday nights.

I was enthralled and terrified by the punky stuff, mesmerized by disco – does anyone remember Legs & Co? I had my first boy crushes on Terry Hall of The Specials and the drummer from Musical Youth. There was SKA, reggae and early hints of new wave all sandwiched amongst the cheesiest of cheeses. But Blondie though, there was a band that sort of combined the best of all it, edgy but accessible – even my 6 year old self.

I’ve never stopped admiring Debbie. For me, like Dolly, she exudes “it”. I can’t explain this “it”, but both these girls have got it. It’s in their eyes; the way they look with a hint of a smile, a knowing confidence.

With all this in mind, I was truly excited to read this book. I didn’t know exactly what to expect. An element of musical manufacture maybe? Some drugs, definitely.  Some bonking and stuff you wouldn’t want your Mum to have to read.  There was a lot of the latter, but the manufacture – no, and this was the real beauty of reading this. In my head, I was imagining Debbie Harry’s happiest days to be at the peak of Blondie’s fame, with Call Me riding high in the charts, money being delivered in large suitcases.  This was also a no. Debbie Harry is actually just a proper punk – an artist, a poet, an actress – someone who lives her best life when she is doing something outwardly pioneering and creative. The height of Blondie’s success, musically, was actually a pretty low point for her.

And this was the best take out for me; the bit where I celebrate my choice of life icon and heroine. Debbie Harry loves performing and NOT just being rich and famous!  Boom! It’s well worth a read.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

I first encountered this book in an airport. I remember taking a photo and Tweeting about how many self-help books there were on one shelf featuring a provocative, cheeky expletive. I deemed these books flight bait and moved on.

Cut forward to Corona quarantine and I found myself running and walking alone a lot. I saw this title in a free trial for Audible, and thus spent about 30 miles and 5 hours listening to it.

I was happy to discover it was a really solid and satisfying read (listen). Many a time did I nod and smile to myself as the narrator read out example stories, anecdotes and theories in a soothing voice.

The big, hairy, awesome bit for me though, was the author’s own story of spending his youth wanting to be a rock star. You should read it, but for the sake of rounding off my own point, I’ll cut the long story short with a low level spoiler.

Ultimately, Mark Manson concluded, with a firework style epiphany, that he simply didn’t want to be a rock star badly enough. He craved his vision of the end game only. The stardom would’ve merely been a by-product of hours of time practicing; loving the graft, loving a dingy venue with a messy lock in after – all regardless of financial gain. Yes, we are talking about loving that journey; doing things repeatedly and passionately, not as a means to an end, but purely because you love doing it.

YES! What Debbie said! You gotta love the process.

And there we have it. Two books that aligned, entertained and reminded me exactly why I sit down and write things like this and get up at 5am to run 20 miles. Because, in a very subtle way, they are things I give a f*ck about – isn’t that Atomic?