Happy

Just a few short hours ago, I was on the road to forever being highly annoyed by a particular celebrity/recording artist and their artistic endeavors. My heart and mind were no longer open and receptive as they once were to his particular expressions and imprint. It's amazing how you can love something so, one minute, and then with the consistency of change, almost completely write it off all together later. Cold--yes, but true.

But that all changed when I watched a witty and intelligent interviewer bring out the best in John Mayer. I gained that new level of understanding I had been yearning for these past couple of years. Because recently, he had become more of a punchline and US Weekly magazine staple, better known for his sex-scapades rather than his heartfelt journey as a musician and human being. But in this recent interview, I gained understanding. And it was that understanding that put my heart at ease. I let him in again. The comedian, the musician, the man, the intellectual. These were the labels in which I understood Mr. Mayer prior to 2005.

It's amazing how many things can get cleared up with the ever so complex action of "understanding". It brings us to a place of peace. It settles us once again. "In all your getting, get understanding"...And then we begin to love the thing (or in this case, person) we almost completely wrote off, we love them even more, with a greater level of maturity. Everything may not be perfect, yet we are settled once again in our affections, until something else comes to shake its fruit from our lives.


As human beings and artists, we long to express, but also relate, and perhaps bring understanding to our vision and perspective of love, life, and those things in between.


The struggle remains in pleasing others, not pleasing others, staying honest, and resting in truth. Ideally we never want to care what people think, but in truth, love doesn't happen unless someone else is in the room. And that's a dangerous concoction. We need each other, but we don't want to be in the place where we have to admit it.

Therefore, our artistic expressions...who we are, what we wear, how we live, what we create, our professions, our ministries, etc. as they change and mature, will always be up for review by the masses. Many will continue to assess their love for you and the things you do. No need to resist or fear it, it's simply an open invitation for understanding to take place, and a deeper sense of love to be birthed and grasped--for those that want it.

As an artist I feel the journey goes something like this:

It is not my job to make you happy, but it is my good pleasure to see you smile.