Your gift is not fully yours until it is given away
Nietzsche once said those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.
What a perfect sentiment to summarize the experience of busking. Because when you perform in public, you learn that not everybody will like your art. In fact, not everybody will even acknowledge the fact that you’re there. Most will just walk by as if you weren’t standing there naked, breaking yourself open and pouring yourself out.
And it’s painful. It makes you feel invisible. It insults your soul.
But you can’t let it phase you. You can’t allow the uncompromising forces of reality to crush your dream. Because job number one is not to please everybody who walks by, job number one is to create an exhibition of love through your art. To find the best that is within you and let her rip.
The ones who don’t get joke and can’t hear the music, they’re not your people. So just keep playing. Whether you’re performing on the streets for change or producing on the internet to create change, just keep playing. Stick around long enough and continue to be yourself until the right people find you. And when the world is finally ready for you, all you have to do is say yes.
What’s the one thing, if practiced consistently, would make the biggest impact on your life?