The Day Michael Eavis told me NO!

2013 was the year that +Michael Eavis  successfully booked the Stones for Glastonbury Festival and it was the year that I first met Michael. He has such vitality, energy and wit about him, he is definitely no ordinary old age pensioner! 

I asked Michael if I could have some free tickets to Glastonbury, as I had never ever been before and he said something along the lines of,'Wow, amazing, incredible, gosh that is so very unusual, not many people can say that, you've never been to Glastonbury before? I quite admire that, it's quite amazing, different, yes, yes, very admirable, I respect you for that.....'

Of course I just knew he was going to give me some freebies to welcome me to Shepton Mallet, the nearest town to the festival and get me to realise why I would absolutely have to go every year....
He continued....

'It's a wonderful thing, you've never been before....' I'm nodding away, thinking...'this man likes my independent thinking, he knows I'm discerning, I'm special and once he's won me over, he knows that I'll be telling everyone how wonderful it all is, after experiencing it for the first time ever!' I was smiling at him, he was smiling at me, we both chuckled and nodded our heads at each other happily and he said....
'Let's keep it that way!'

'What?' I asked, not believing my ears, thinking he's joking.....
'I think it's a wonderful thing that you've never seen the festival, let's keep it that way!' All the while he was chuckling and smiling an impish looking smile.

This must have been the nicest way to be refused a freebie ever, ever, ever.....with smiles, laughter and jovility but my heart sank. Here I was, after just 30 minutes or so, thinking that we were best pals and he understood my quirky, eccentric ways because he too has quirky eccentric ways and oh, I was just a traitor that had never supported his vision. 

I felt bad and tried to remember why I had never ever wanted to go......wellington boots, muddy fields, too many pop stars and big egos, (my ego is enough for me in a wet, muddy, cold field) I didn't want to stand in the cold, not hearing the vocals properly, or hearing people sing flat because they can't hear themselves through the sound system. I didn't want that disappointment when you hear the talent live and compared to the tight studio sound, it's as if all the notes have been mixed up in a blender, thrown into the air and only vaguely resemble the music you know, when they come back down again. Yes, I admit, I am a Glastonbury sceptic but the reason I want to go is because I live right next to it and I love local and I love supporting local, so if this is a local initiative then that is fab and I want to join in and experience the fun! Then when I've experienced it I want to shout about it.
I'm just going to have to save up really, really hard if I want to get some festival tickets!

The reason that I went to see Michael with  is because I wanted to ask him to support me in my campaign to be Town Councillor in  and he did and I won the election with a landslide victory! So a massive thank you anyway to Michael for supporting my campaign and of course to Garfield and  for supporting me all the way! 

Did you ever ask a cheeky something from someone? Did you get what you requested, or did they say 'No' and have you ever had a 'no' as nice as the one that Michael gave to me? I'd love to know, please comment here.

Reach for your dreams, 2014

Oh! This time last year, I had never heard of a place called Shepton Mallet, which just so happens to be the closest town to Glastonbury Festival! Now, I live there, have a shop there, as well as the one in Enfield, my two children go to school there and I am now a Town Councillor there too. All within around 3 months of moving there. We looked at the shop premises on 7th July, we got the keys on the 30th August and we opened on September 20th, even though we didn't have chairs, tables or a carpet!
At the beginning of the journey, we didn't know how we would achieve moving to Somerset, keeping the Enfield business and opening another shop but as we reached for our goals and knew what we wanted, things seemed to fall into place.
I have learnt, that if you have a vision and know the specific end result of the vision, that you will make it come true, through belief and conviction. You create your own opportunities and shape your own dreams.
I think 2013 was my best year ever, there were plenty of positive changes, plenty of challenges and plenty of choices open to me.
As 2014 unfolds before me, I realise the intrinsic power that each and everyone of us has to change their lives for the better.
For a longtime, I was waiting for someone to see my talent and potential, to give me success. It's only when I used my talents regardless of anyone giving me their permission or not that I was able to change my world, into an even better life than before.
At this point in time, I feel loved and blessed, to be able to contribute to my community in so many positive ways.
What am I trying to say? Well, I wish you a very happy new year and I wish you the power and strength for you to make the changes you need to make, have your vision, feel it, dream it and then live it. It is possible. You can do it.