what does it mean to let go and challenge the world's expectations?
how does society move forward if people aren't willing to take a quantam leap?
how can we move a world forward if we are not willing to push ourselves to our absoulute limits?
these and other questions can only be answered by deep exploration, tempered by some common sense, and a healthy dose of fearlessness.
i'm starting to tap--these days--into a well of creativity that is outright mind-boggling. if i hadn't done a solid strategic planning session a couple of months back, i might be all over the place. as it is now, i can barely sleep because of all the noise upstairs (no, not my neighbor, but my brain). so what happens if i just let loose with reckless abandon.
my shoulder has been hurting. i tell you, i think i may have done something to my rotator cuff or something trying to hang with the young boys in the gym. but i'm not complaining. i'm just informing. i cracked the bottom of my box springs yesterday, so my bed is leaning. i like the futon anyway. that firm monster gives me a good night's sleep. it's probably where i need to be now. if you haven't noticed, it's like...4:30 in the morning.
so back to letting go...
Jazz came about because people started hearing tones that weren't on the page. Hip-Hop rose because kids didn't have instruments, so they decided to make some out of two turn tables and a mic. many of the things i've done came about as a result of a demand to be born with the threat of insanity if kept within.
so i ponder some more about all the rules that society places on us. i just got back from seeing The DaVinci Code--again. this time, i took someone along (ya'll know i'm usually movie-ing by myself in the back row) and it was good to dialogue about the concept of Jesus The Christ possibly having a relationship. i found myself saying, "Heck, if he was that tight with Mary Magdelene, would that be the end of the world? Wouldn't that mean he could relate to a brother even more?"
Christ was a quantam leaper for the entire world, heck maybe even the universe. don't i owe it to the neighborhood, the community, the nation, the world i live in to let loose and just live?
but what stops us?
fear of judgment. fear of stepping outside of a box. fear of the wrath of retribution from others who have other expectations. i probably talk about a lot of this because it helps me to remember that, in order to weave dreams, you have to first not be afraid of them. hmmm. yeah. then, you have to unleash them on the world and see what happens.
i wonder about artists who change their work or shapeshift their aesthetic in order to make money, or impress people, or to meet others' standards. i so do NOT want to ever be guilty of that. i don't know how i could sleep. i do feel sorry sometimes when i see actors or singers or writers who i just love pushing out meaningless, pop culture stuff to make a living. i feel sorry because i know that people gotta pay bills, and most of the meaningful stuff, you won't be recognized for until your skin cells can fertilize a plant.
but, we press on.
maybe if we, as artists, can keep creating, and supporters can keep supporting, we'll find a place where we'll lose all fear, and just let go...and just...be.
