Natalie Imbruglia and I go way back.
Many of us loved her when she played Beth Brennan in TV soap opera Neighbours.
That was in 1992. Unbelievable.
And now Nat is back in my life and I am happy about this.
The Australian singer has a new deal with Audible.
I have spent the past few nights snuggled down, listening to the pop star’s international accent narrating I Love A Sunburnt Country by one of our country’s most-wonderful poets, Dorothea Mackeller.
It is part of a new podcast series which pairs celebrity voices with guided meditations and bedtime tales.
You see, I suspect I am a vampire.
Sleep has always eluded me.
I have tried everything to get better sleep, including magnesium tablets, melatonin, not looking at screens before bed, drinking warm milk, peppermint tea and even Baileys.
Hey, you never know what a splash of Irish love can do for a girl.
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My brain goes into overdrive the minute I hit the pillow or I find it impossible to go back to sleep when my kids or dogs wake me up in the middle of the night.
Seven hours sleep seems but a dream in my world that is sleep deprived.
But back to Natalie.
Remember her hit song Torn?
It was the soundtrack to my life in 1997.
My best friend and I would blast it before we went out to Friday’s nightclub at Mooloolaba and we would have it on repeat when a guy inevitably bruised our hearts.
We belted out the lyrics, full of angst and anger, with gusto: “I’m all out of faith, This is how I feel. I’m cold and I am shamed, lying naked on the floor. Illusion never changed into something real, I’m wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn.”
I dressed the same as Nat in her video clip and copied the crop-top T-shirt and cargo pants.
Fast forward over three decades later and things turned out just fine.
I did meet a guy who didn’t make me feel torn and we had some lovely children and bought a cute white house.
But I hear Torn and I am 20 years old again, navigating the confusing world of love and rejection and the challenge of finding someone who will like me just for me.
Life was great.
No responsibilities (except doing my job), swimming in the ocean every sunset, going out every weekend, dancing until dawn.
Oh, how times have changed for me and the pop star.
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator. For more from Sami, tune into Mix FM.
