Get Rhythm

“Hey, get rhythm when you get the blues
Come on, get rhythm when you get the blues
Get a rock 'n' roll feelin' in your bones
Put taps on your toes and get gone
Get rhythm when you get the blues”

Get Rhythm – Johnny Cash

Yesterday was one of the most surreal days I’ve ever experienced. I donned a heavy gown and hood, walked across stage (without tripping, thank goodness) and received the certificate that officially said I have completed my degree. Now, I’ve assumed I was going to graduate throughout my whole university life and knew I would graduate a couple weeks back when I received my final academic results saying I had passed everything. But it wasn’t until I actually received the certificate and put on the trencher when I really realised I had done the degree. And, as surreal as it was to know I had actually done it, there was a large part of me which was proud of myself.

So what now? I have the certificate and the knowledge of three years of uni – well, what I can remember from Media Comm which I haven’t removed from my brain. I’ve made some amazing friends which have resulted in the best memories (and worst mornings, and the occasional times where things don’t quite get done when they should, like Thursday blog posts). As my tutors would say, it is time to face “the real world”. It’s an exciting prospect – my graduates and I are young and living on hopes and dreams and tins of spaghetti when the finances get really bad. I feel like there’s been a part of me which has been in this “real world” for a few years, as I held down a part time job and made sure not to go into debt, and made it a point of interest to meet people who can help me move forward.

But what if it all falls apart? There’s a deep dark part of me which is so worried everything will just fall apart.

 

I guess that’s when I get rhythm. If anyone knows how to cure the blues, it has to be the man in black who nearly ended up in Folsom Prison. And if any song character can still get rhythm when they are the shoe shiner on a windy corner of the dirty street, then surely a graduated university student can get rhythm too, because it does you a world of good. Getting some rhythm helps you calm down and put things in perspective, and figure your way forward. I’ve heard stories of people succeeding through the worst times and it seems nothing is ever too big to be solved if you want to solve it. It might not be able to be solved straight away and it will take some hard work – but in the meantime, you can get your rhythm on to get through it all.