Sticky Summer Air

Hello Lavenders,

The final day of 2024 has arrived. How are you feeling?

For me, this year has been a mix of endings and beginnings. I graduated from high school and moved to a different country. Here, no one knows me, and that feels freeing, like I could rewrite everything from the start. It’s funny—one day you’re in your room, and the next, you’re in a whole new country. You never really know what’s coming next, but maybe that’s what makes life interesting.

In this new place, I’ve met people I never expected to meet, discovered places I never thought I’d find, and learnt to grow in ways I never imagined. It’s hard to believe I’ve only been here for four and a half months. My perspective has shifted, my values have expanded, and I’ve started to understand myself in new ways. The friends I’ve made have helped me see life differently, but more than that, they’ve helped me see parts of myself I didn’t know were there. For that, I’m grateful.

This year also gave many Britpop lovers what they had dreamed of for years: the Oasis reunion. Their music has been with me since I was a kid. I never saw them live, but they feel more real than any other band—especially Noel. He grew up with struggles, including a stutter, just like I did. It wasn’t just the shared sadness that drew me to him. It was the way he turned pain into art, showing me that life can hold hope and courage again. Even though Noel once said, “Don’t put your life in the hands of a rock ‘n’ roll band,” he’s still my rock ‘n’ roll hero.

In the Supersonic documentary, Noel shares a piece of his past:

“My dad used to beat the living daylights out of me. But I’ve never felt compelled to either talk about it or write about it. You can’t let that kind of thing affect you in any way. Because then you’re carrying that weight all the way through life. I think it benefitted me in the way that it made me withdraw into my own world. And from that came learning to play the guitar. I guess, in some way, my old fella beat the talent into me.”

When I was younger, I watched that part over and over, like it was some kind of spell. His words felt like something I could hold on to. He reminded me that while we can’t choose what hurts us, we can choose what we create from it.

This is one of my favourite lyrics from Stop Crying Your Heart Out, and I wanted to share it with you:

Hold up
Hold on
Don’t be scared
You’ll never change what’s been and gone
May your smile
Shine on
Don’t be scared
Your destiny may keep you warm

‘Cause all of the stars
Are fading away
Just try not to worry
You’ll see them someday
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out

These lines feel like a hand on your shoulder, telling you to dream, to keep going. They tell you that even when the stars fade and the world feels heavy, there’s a light, a chance, a person standing by your side.

Music has a way of turning into a time machine. A single song can carry you back to the exact moment—the air, the light, the way the world felt. Oasis does that for me. When their songs play, I’m back in my childhood, riding my bike to the ocean after school with Wendy. We’d sit by the shore, watching the tides ebb and flow, listening to their music until the sky turned orange and the sun dipped below the horizon. We didn’t talk much, but we didn’t need to. Afterward, we’d scrape together every coin we could find and ride to the corner store. Inside, the air was cool and smelled like chlorine and cheap plastic. We’d grab the biggest blue drink we could afford and share it, passing it back and forth, laughing as it turned our tongues bright blue. I can almost smell the ocean wind, even though I’m far from home now. It was our way of letting everything inside us drift away, like the waves pulling back into the sea.

In Don’t Look Back in Anger, Noel sings about starting a revolution from his bed. That’s my hope for 2025. Small revolutions. Gentle changes. Finding joy in the small moments.

Here’s to Whatever comes next.

Thank you for visiting my little lavender fields.

God bless and goodbye!

~Rue