That was the first line that popped into my head this morning. Bob Dylan from "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding," an indelible, searingly great track from his fabulous, head-exploding album "Bringing It All Back Home." (1965).
Yes, a great line, but, you know, probably not true. Not for Bob or for any of us either. Of course we don't have to live up to perfect pictures and ideas from others, from society, from family, from teachers, from those we hang out with. But, no doubt, we all have hopes & dreams, crazy-ass ideas, vaulting ambitions bubbling around in our heads & hearts, and we do want to live up to those personal visions.
Of course these personal visions don't just self-generate, there are no self-made humans, everything we see and think helps make us who we are. Our personal visions are founded upon everything we read, observe, take in, take to heart. We pick and choose. Who inspires us? Who are our influences? That is the mulch that feeds the secret gardens inside.
Bob was trying to deal with his own expectations and all those teeming masses expecting him to be some kind of folk god, or r&r messiah. He was staking out his own territory. Another great resonant line from that song: "If my thought-dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine." Hilariously great. I always thought that was wildly accurate for me too.
What are these lines saying to me this morning? Do your own thing. Don't worry about what other people think or say, do what you love to do with heart, head and soul all aligned. There is nothing to live up to except the full realization of being a fully-alive and engaged Human Being in all its contradiction and glory. Follow your own singular path, your own singular vision. Damn the torpedoes.
"He not busy being born is busy dying…" Exactly. Right.
