Get in the springy bits

Happy New Year everyone, from the land down under.

Wishing you all health, happiness and peace in a world full of challenges.

Eternally hopeful that love wins.

One of the most beautiful songs ever written, fittingly chosen to launch BBC Music 10 years ago.

Thank god for the musical genius of Brian Wilson and his Beach Boys.

Fireworks explode over our Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up in a rainbow.

I am not of Liam’s generation. 1D didn’t define my younger years, like so many of you here. That’s a particular sort of pain. Perhaps that's more what it felt like for me when John Lennon was gunned down. The Beatles were my first boyband.

Instead, 1D defined a reawakening of my then dormant artistic soul. A different impact, but a no less seismic one for me.

It was in their music, and the joy of it. After decades away, I went to concerts again. I still do.

It was in the 1D alchemy, those sweet boys, the joy of them.

It was in the amazing creativity of this fan base, which inspired and fuelled my own. The artists, the writers, the gif makers, the editors, and all those who lifted them up. You were, and are, wonderful. You showed me such generosity of spirit and encouragement. Bless all your hearts.

And Liam started drawing. I remember thinking how much I wished I’d started drawing at his age, but was excited for him that he was where he was. There is some bravery in putting your early work out there. I felt that too. I loved him for that.

I have already lived 37 years longer than Liam. I should have gone before him. I know how much promise, how much joy, how much redemption and wisdom, how much history those years could have held in store for him, however challenging they would also have been. How much it held in store for those he loved, and who loved him. There was turbulence in the end, and I’m mindful of that, but overwhelmingly I feel the depth of this loss. The history that is altered, the history that won’t be. The possibilities for healing and happiness and artistry that wont be. No one is promised even one day, but untimely death hits so particularly hard.