"Be Yourslef, No Matter What They Say"

If Sting repeats it three times in his song, it must be important.

It seems crucial to me, but also extremely difficult. All the authors (and all the humans) I admire found, at some point in their lives, "their" voice, their way of being, their view of the world, where many others keep "doing it like" their idols, imitating them (badly). Mind you: imitation is probably an essential first step. To admire is to be moved. Wanting to "be like" someone means recognizing something sublime in them that you wish you had. It shows a sensitivity that marks the beginning of everything. But to reach the next level, the second step isn't optional: you have to find those qualities in yourself. Develop your own tools. Shape your character out of what's inside you.

The main obstacles are always the same, it seems to me: fear and ignorance.

Fear of not being interesting enough. Fear of not being as cool, strong or tormented as those we envy. Fear of not having the right past, the right look, the right mind. Fear that it's too early or too late.

Spread over all of it, a layer of ignorance. Ignorance that these fears are natural, shared, collective. That they are often the driving force behind the talent and careers of those we admire. That, regardless of success, they will never leave us and so, when we put them to use, they are an intimate and inexhaustible source of creation.

"What they criticize you for, cultivate it: it's you." – Jean Cocteau