putting one foot forward

now i'm switching back and forth between countdown with keith olbermann (which i usually catch at 8 but i was out having dinner) and sundance's iconoclasts, this episode dave chappelle and maya angelou which i had been dying to see and i listen to maya angelou say this one thing:

"don't pick it up and don't lay it down. when someone tells you 'you're the best, you're the greatest, you're the finest artist of your time. you say 'ah.' cause if you pick it up when they say that, you have to pick it up when they say, 'you lost it, you're worthless, you had it all.' don't pick it up, don't lay it down."

i think i've tried to live by something akin to that in my life. in this business of music, the ability to have an inflated ego (among other things) is not only prevalent, it's sometimes necessary. if you don't have the brash confidence in yourself to say, "yeah, i'm a bad mother fucker. i will get on stage and be the most amazing thing you've ever heard/seen." you won't get anywhere. and because of that, after years, it tends to stick. i've always believed that whatever talent i have (and the good sense to work at it and make it better) is god given (see LJ entry lift the body of christ with your spiritual gifts) and find myself being somewhat self-effacing in the process. but at the same time, i am also severly self-analytical and harsh.

so i think the attitude of not letting everything that people say determine where or who you are, well may be some what of an understatement but is true. i guess it's never been put quite so eloquently than this.