Sunday, April 29, 2012

The bear went over the mountain--

--To see what he could see.

We climbed up the foothills of the Kyrgyz Mountains yesterday. It was humbling and a beautiful reminder of my place in the world. Yes, in a hippy dippy spiritual one with nature kind of a way, but more so in a you can't help but be a part of the world kind of way.
You are here. You are alive.
While most people spend there whole lives striving and struggling to leave a mark on the world. I've sort of stumbled into affecting at least a few lives. And while admittedly it's not at all why I do what I do. I can confidently say that I will never be able to ignore that fact again.

The other day at a meet and greet a young girl said to me, "Thank you for coming and shaking up our lives."
And I said, "really?

Modern dance. Shaking lives up? She explained that it was the fact that we were people who were clearly passionate and enjoyed doing what we did. Most importantly, we were doing it. The questions at that meeting weren't about being famous or MTV or step up 2. They were asking us how do I live my life in a way that will make me happy, how do you define success, how do I do what I love, etc.
The idea of doing what you want, saying what you have to say in the way that you want, as Sean would say, "Speaking an old language, in a new way, with a contemporary accent." is something that as an American I completely take for granted. Well I used to anyway.

Each day here I am more and more grateful that I can do exactly what I want and have the opportunity and proclivity and to live my life as an artist. For me there is no other way. But the blinders have come off. Nothing exists in a vacuum. It's simple physics. You cannot create something from nothing; therefore living a life of creation cannot help but alter the world around you. The inverse must be true as well and for this I am humbled and extremely grateful.



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" "The difference between a madman and a professional is that a pro does as well as he can within what he has set out to do and a madman does exceptionally well at what he can't help doing.” ― Charles Bukowski