Sunday, November 22, 2009

Your time is gonna come..

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.”

I read that Jack Kerouac quote and automatically, it prompted my brain to ask the following question: Does anybody actually try and do their own thing anymore in life? Artistically or spiritually speaking? You know, something that isn't supposed to fit into anyone else's plan or fulfill some other persons dream? Does anybody really do that anymore?

I can think of a handful of people, and I am fortunate to call them my close friends. But generally speaking, do people simply follow a pattern or trend and forego the obligations to themselves for happiness? So often, that they wind up devaluing them and bargaining them off for acceptance, companionship, or success? Maybe we just get complacent and tired of seeking, and thus we sell out our dreams and desires for a cheap price? What is considered a comfortable arrangement, hardly has anything to do with resembling any sort of fulfillment. Obligations to be true to our own beliefs, true to our own wants, our own desires, our own needs - our own lives, and above all our work is a little bit more difficult, but it is what defines who we are as Artists.It inspires us to continue to create great work.

So often I believe we sacrifice that which is most important to either please another person, or else tailor ourselves to appeal to a mass of people. I've come to the conclusion that we were probably perfect in the first place, and we were just trying to please the wrong audience(s) all along.

I have seen city-life and I have lived in canyons by the sea. I have been a number and regretfully, in my youth I'd been a bit of a possession once. But I've always tried to be my own person. I've played the role of Artist and Muse. I have felt the warmth of family and friends as well as peace and contentment in solitary living. I have given love and I have lost love with great success, almost effortlessly. I have travelled across this country to begin my life anew, not realizing how brave that leap was until after I'd gotten halfway across the country. Along the way, I have met both genuine and surreal people. (Sometimes a combination of both) Relocating to the West, I have tolerated fakes and endured sideways comments about my roots and origins.I have formed life-long friendships with people I would never have known had I not taken this Western path. But, I have learned valuable lessons from all of it. I've pin-pointed precise moments in my life where I'd made the wrong choice, or zigged when I should have zagged. I've felt countless new feelings emerge from recognizing old mistakes and couldn't come close to explaining half of them. I've also gotten lost sometimes because I never dared to look back. But once I did, trying to make sense of it all seemed less important than the realization that it's all fallen into place one way or another. The one undeniable truth has been that the best direction is always forward on a path.

I'm all about starting a path and cannot wait to begin the dance. I want the direction and choreography of my steps to be mine, and I don't give a damn who is watching should I mis-step during a move here or there.

K~

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