"I implore you, I entreat you, and I challenge you to speak with conviction. To say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it. Because, contrary to the wisdom of the bumper sticker, It's not enough to question authority. You've got to speak with it too."
-Taylor Mali
Wake up, goddamn it!
What do you do when you want to say something but somebody else has already said it better than you could ever hope to? Other than saying, "Fuck yeah!" when you hear them say it, that is.
It's a problem that is also a blessing, because it only happens when an artist is saying something that moves me. I appreciate those days. I try to have as many of them as possible but - to Taylor Mali's point - they seem to be diminishing in frequency.
People don't like to be challenged. They don't want you to have the courage of your convictions, because the cowardice of theirs will begin to show. I'll be the first to say it, "I'm part of the problem."
My grammar and punctuation have gone to shit. My speech has taken on that mainstream interrogative tone that makes it difficult to determine whether I am making a statement or asking a question. I've been dumbing it down for so long, I don't know if I'll be able to smart it back up. This is bad for someone who holds aspirations of being a writer.
I'm a salesman by trade, which means that my livelihood depends on hitching my stated opinions to the bandwagon of my customers. When I first started in this business somebody actually told me that I was having a hard time selling because I'm too tall and my voice is too deep. I have this odd need to eat, so I started hunching and speaking with the voice of the never-ending question that is so popular in Southern California. Ya know? This is especially frustrating for someone who's never really been part of the pack, because I buckled.
It's a problem that is also a blessing, because it only happens when an artist is saying something that moves me. I appreciate those days. I try to have as many of them as possible but - to Taylor Mali's point - they seem to be diminishing in frequency.
People don't like to be challenged. They don't want you to have the courage of your convictions, because the cowardice of theirs will begin to show. I'll be the first to say it, "I'm part of the problem."
My grammar and punctuation have gone to shit. My speech has taken on that mainstream interrogative tone that makes it difficult to determine whether I am making a statement or asking a question. I've been dumbing it down for so long, I don't know if I'll be able to smart it back up. This is bad for someone who holds aspirations of being a writer.
I'm a salesman by trade, which means that my livelihood depends on hitching my stated opinions to the bandwagon of my customers. When I first started in this business somebody actually told me that I was having a hard time selling because I'm too tall and my voice is too deep. I have this odd need to eat, so I started hunching and speaking with the voice of the never-ending question that is so popular in Southern California. Ya know? This is especially frustrating for someone who's never really been part of the pack, because I buckled.
As I droned through the American-Consumer existence that keeps us all silently following the herd, I never realized herd living is exactly what keeps one's mind narrowed and vision tunneled. The only way to have a vision of something other than the asses of the teeming herd is to throw off the yoke, and break free.
It's the only chance I'll have to be heard, but what do I have to say that's worth hearing? How will I reach the ears of the other cattle and inspire them to break free from the herd? The only voice I have left is the one I adopted to sound like them, and now I simply blend into the chorus. So the struggle continues. What do I do when I want to say something that somebody else has said better than I can? Just keep trying. I didn't lose my voice overnight. It's a good bet I probably won't find it overnight either. On the bright side, I've got: Taylor Mali, Rives, Black Ice, Jill Scott, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Craig Brewer, David Mamet, Quentin Tarantino, Aaron Sorkin, Hunter Thompson, Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, George Orwell, Bill Hicks, Maynard James Keenan, Lennon and McCartney, and the generations they've all inspired shining their light so I can see where it's hiding.
It's the only chance I'll have to be heard, but what do I have to say that's worth hearing? How will I reach the ears of the other cattle and inspire them to break free from the herd? The only voice I have left is the one I adopted to sound like them, and now I simply blend into the chorus. So the struggle continues. What do I do when I want to say something that somebody else has said better than I can? Just keep trying. I didn't lose my voice overnight. It's a good bet I probably won't find it overnight either. On the bright side, I've got: Taylor Mali, Rives, Black Ice, Jill Scott, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Craig Brewer, David Mamet, Quentin Tarantino, Aaron Sorkin, Hunter Thompson, Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, George Orwell, Bill Hicks, Maynard James Keenan, Lennon and McCartney, and the generations they've all inspired shining their light so I can see where it's hiding.
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