Staying True to Ourselves, David Bowie Has Always Showed Us How
Last night David Bowie passed away. He was one of those people who was so extremely creative that everything he did pushed our limits of understanding of art and of how the world works. There is an interesting dynamic in his costuming and performance. Is he hiding behind a mask or is he vulnerable, showing his true self? While at first sight it appears that he is hiding behind his personas, I see his creative impulse and output as true authentic uniqueness. Let’s all learn from him as he talks about creativity, negativity and listening from a different perspective.
He was talking about recording the album Heathen and mentioning that he prefers to use the preset sounds when playing synthesizer instead of programming his own sounds.
“And if I say that, ‘no, don’t change the sound I want the preset’, their face will drop and a look of disdain appears.” … “I’ve never responded well to entrenched negative thinking. When I’m faced with ‘that won’t work’ … I freeze up. I try to put judgement on hold for as long as possible. Then, when I need to listen to something critically, I put myself in a place that has nothing to do with the industrialized process we’re going through, being in a studio and all that. I’ll pretend that I’m on a ship, say, and I’m looking out to sea and there’s a distant fog on the horizon. I will listen to the piece of music from that place and see what it does to me. I use those kind of tricks all the time. It amazes me sometimes that even intelligent people will analyze a situation or make a judgement after only recognizing the standard or traditional structure of a piece. They will then confront the whole thing with a standard reaction and a standard reaction will not allow for deviancies. It’s the kiss of death in creating something.” ~ David Bowie, Livewire interview from 2002
How do we stay true to ourselves whether we are creating music or art, writing gratitude, cooking, decorating or anything? How do we keep from freezing when confronted with naysayers? If we learn from Bowie, we just stay the course. We accept that negativity, even deeply entrenched negativity will show up on our path. We accept that but at the same time we release it. We don’t cling to it. That release frees us up to continue on the path we are drawn to.
The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.
~Friedrich Nietzsche
Think of something this year that you are not grateful for. What does this tell you about what is important to you?
LEARNING: Usually I write my gratitude either being in the present moment or reflecting on all the things I have done that day. One day this week some gratitude came to me about a way-of-being. It really struck me because I rarely reflect on these types of gratitudes. Gratitudes for who I am as a person, my personality or other qualities. It was energizing and refreshing. I hope to remember to do that more in the future.
FORGOTTEN GRATITUDE: Last week I was also grateful for the warmest and super cute hand-knitted wool fingerless gloves, arriving just in time … An amazing white owl captured by a traffic camera … Google AdWords help.
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[su_note note_color=”#e7e7e7″ text_color=”#686767″ radius=”0″] My gratitude journey started in May 2011 and continues to this day. Thank you for being a part of it! A daily gratitude practice is simple. Write down three things you are grateful for each day. Download your free GratitudeGuide. My clients focus on gratitude and learn from their successes to make the positive changes they want in their lives. You can too. Call me to set up our first meeting 505.333.9336. [/su_note]