My cultural awakening: ‘The Specials helped me to stop fixating on death’
My anxious disposition means I think about death a lot.But a cluster of people I loved dying in 2023, and most of them unexpectedly and within a few months of each other, was enough to shake my nervous system up pretty significantly.Five funerals is too many.The first was my nan: she was the family matriarch.The oldest person in the family, so there was a level of acceptance among the sadness.
But soon after it was her son, and then her granddaughter (my cousin),The latter two were shocks, completely upending my nervous system, one compounding the other,From there, two more followed,Death was all around,It wasn’t just a part of life by that point – it was something to expect soon and often.
At first I seemed fine,Despite concerned friends and partners asking if I was hiding anything, I didn’t think I was,But soon I retreated from fun, becoming very fixated on things like my resting heart rate and body fat percentage,I skipped social events for high-intensity interval training sessions followed by the sauna followed by meditation – not a bad thing, but not a balance, either,I cut out caffeine, including dark chocolate.
When I didn’t stick to my new routine, I would have a panic attack, which I’d assume was a heart attack, which would lead to more frequent episodes of panic.I was suffering from grief-based panic disorder, as well as a high dose of health anxiety.Something in my mind had switched my nervous system into overdrive, and left me believing that impending disaster was around every corner; that I was constantly on a tightrope of mortality.Then, at the fourth wake, a song came on that managed to help me heal and reframe my entire world.Sign up to Inside SaturdayThe only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine.
Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend,after newsletter promotionEnjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) is a song from the 1940s, later covered by the Specials – a band I listened to more than any other growing up,They helped me form my opinions on everything from fashion to politics,For the two-tone ska band, this song is on the cheesier side – a good stretch away from bleak socio-critical tracks such as Rat Race or Ghost Town,In fact, as an angsty teenager it was the only song I didn’t like by the Specials.
But when it came on, hearing the jovial and rough sound of the Specials was enough to lift my spirits,As I continued to listen to the song, the a simple switch flipped inside me,I realised that I was living a life set up to be miserable and fearful,The chorus painted a better picture: “The years go by, as quickly as you wink / Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think”,Life doesn’t have to be serious all the time; it doesn’t have to be drastic.
The future doesn’t need to be the extreme version that I worry will occur.On a psychological level, the song acted as a mantra which I used to snap out of the spirals and neurotic fixations that kept building up.It said quite simply “enjoy yourself” – and I listened.It cautioned that life is precious and fleeting, and that I was wasting it.I did at one point push the balance too far the other way – said yes to too much, stayed out too late, definitely spent too much money – but it was better than being stuck in a cycle of doom.
Better still is the balance I am striking now.Today, enjoying myself, in the song’s words, means being in touch with myself and my needs; saying yes and saying no.Not feeling guilty for lying on the couch once in a while.My disposition berates me into being disciplined and self-critical, and this song helps me to let go.I’ve even quit jobs and moved countries since.
All in all, I regret very little.Did a cultural moment prompt you to make a major life change? Email us at cultural.awakening@theguardian.com
SlimFast’s European arm sold after struggling to compete with weight-loss drugs
The owner of Typhoo tea has snapped up SlimFast’s UK and European business in a £20.1m deal as it seeks to expand in the weight management market despite fierce competition from GLP-1 weight-loss jabs.The Irish nutrition and food company Glanbia has sold the low-calorie meal replacement shakes business to the British company Supreme after putting it up for sale earlier this year. Sales at the European operations have dropped, weighing on stronger trading in the US.The SlimFast brand has come under mounting pressure from the rapid growth of weight-loss drug blockbusters such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, made by the pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly respectively
Secret Cinema company is bought by Hollywood power broker
The parent company behind Secret Cinema, the London-based immersive film and TV business, has been bought by the Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel.TodayTix, which is changing hands for an undisclosed sum, marks the latest acquisition by Emanuel’s new global events company, Mari, which bought the Frieze global art fair and publishing group in May for $200m (£148m).Mari is backed by Apollo Global Management and RedBird Capital Partners, which has invested in the football clubs Liverpool FC and AC Milan and is trying to push through a deal to buy the Telegraph newspaper group.Emanuel already runs the company behind World Wrestling Entertainment and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.TodayTix will now join the fold, after being bought from Great Hill Partners, a private equity company which took a controlling stake in the business in 2019
Bereaved families call for inquiry into UK failure to act on pro-suicide forum
Bereaved families and survivors of a pro-suicide forum have called for a public inquiry into the government’s failure to prevent harm linked to the online platform.The calls came as a report found that coroners had raised concerns regarding suicide forums at least 65 times to three government departments since 2019.They also highlighted that a substance promoted as a suicide method on such platforms has been linked to at least 133 deaths in the UK, with the youngest known victim just 13 years old.The analysis, published by the Molly Rose Foundation – established after the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell in November 2017 – is the result of systematic review of reports to prevent future deaths issued by coroners.According to their report, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology all failed to act on warnings from coroners about the dangers of pro-suicide forums
‘The wire began to smoke’: how to avoid counterfeit scams on Vinted and other resale sites
When Maheen found a brand-new Dyson Airwrap for the bargain price of £260 on the resale website Vinted, she was thrilled. The seller’s reviews were all five-star, and she trusted in the buyer-protection policy should something go wrong.Sold new, an Airwrap costs between £400 and £480, but Maheen did not suspect anything was amiss. “I had used Vinted many times and it was simple and straightforward. Nothing had ever gone wrong,” she says
Mind the gap: surge from Verstappen piles pressure on McLaren and echoes 2007 | Giles Richards
A few short months ago Max Verstappen’s world championship defence appeared to be over. But when he took the flag in the US Grand Prix on Sunday it heralded the most remarkable resurgence as he waded with a gleeful swagger back into the title fight. Verstappen was down but he is far from out and could yet still pull off what would count as his greatest triumph.Going into the weekend in Austin, Verstappen was still treating the idea of him being a contender against the two lead protagonists, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with a certain indifferent levity.“It’s 50-50
‘Exciting’ Noah Caluori could make England debut this autumn, says Borthwick
England could fast-track the Saracens teenager Noah Caluori into the Test spotlight as soon as next month following the wing’s dramatic start to his top-level club career. The 19-year-old celebrated his first Prem start with five tries against Sale Sharks on Saturday and the national head coach, Steve Borthwick, says he is already in contention for a senior England debut.It was impossible to miss Caluori’s aerial ability and eye for the try line at the weekend with the former Lions captain Sam Warburton describing the 6ft 5in player as “almost undefendable” and “an absolute diamond”. England have been aware of his potential for a while and it seems that some game time against Fiji a fortnight on Saturday is not impossible.Borthwick certainly did not pour cold water on the idea after calling up Caluori to a three-day training camp in Bagshot
Amazon says Web Services are recovering after outage hits millions of users – as it happened
Labour’s clean energy plan needs a revamp: get real on costs and ignore the artificial deadline | Nils Pratley
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Outsiders steal headlines at Ascot and the shocks are coming more often
Red Bull fined £43,000 after team member tries to tamper with Lando Norris grid tape