Eat the Worms

​It is totally weird.  I don’t know when I started saying it, or even thinking it, but all these years later I still hold to it.  The saying is “eat the worms and spit out the germs.”  I reckon it is a kid’s saying.  It is no doubt more appropriate for birds than people.  I am not partial to worms.  I am happy to have them in the ground or to keep a worm farm, but I never go out there of an afternoon and pick out worms to consume.
I was reminded of that saying just before.  I was listening to a song I really like.  I had never done it before, but this time I had a good listen to the words.  I do not know how many lines there were, but assuming there were 30, there was one line that I did not agree with.  There were 29 that I did.
As always the choice was mine.  I could discard the whole song because of one line, or embrace the 29 lines I did agree with.  I chose to eat the worms and spit out the germs.  It seems to me it can be a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater when I choose to ignore 29 good lines because of one bad one.
There is much that is said that is not a statement of belief.  It is simply a statement of experience.  There is a song I really like that says, “they do karate while we’re setting up and checking the sound.”  I really like that line.  I listen out for it.  I wait for it.  It is not earth-shattering.  It is not something to hang my hat on.  But it is something I can relate to.
Setting up in the hope someone will turn up.  Playing at an empty rotunda.  Only knowing five songs and having them on repeat.  Not hostile crowds but something probably worse, indifferent crowds.  I can relate to the words.  The circumstances were different, but been there done that.
I have also played in front of lots of people.  Felt the pressure of more people than I imagined.
Yet I would not trade any experience for the world.  I could have seen the early experiences as only germs.  Or as they say spat the dummy.  But if I had, I would have missed out on the good experiences.  They reckon the bad times help us appreciate the good times.
To me there is much to embrace.  They are the worms I eat.  There is also much to discard.  They are the germs I spit out.  Like that song, often the worms and germs are together.  I need to separate them if I do not want to be negatively affected (read get crook).  To me though it is worth it.  There can be a lot of dirt between the gold.
Please let me state again the worms are figurative.  I do not (knowingly) eat worms.  It is not something weird you will find out about me by spending time at our place.
Hmmmm feeling rather peckish.  What to eat?  Arr yes, there are worms out there….  Just kidding.