The Renegade Musician: Understanding the Concept

0:00So in a way that's my definition of a concept. It's not easily explained, but you know when you see one and you know when you are one. So my answer is mostly going to be a recitation of the content that's in the book, but we're going to get a musician as a concept. I look at a couple of different things to help people understand what that means. And we all know that the American dream is a concept, but we also know that it's not 1.93 kids, a golden retriever named Charlie and a white pick of fence.

1:03There are certainly people that aspire to that and there's nothing wrong with that, but that's not really the American dream is it. The American dream is the quality, opportunity and the freedom to pursue your highest aspirations. It's not easily explained, but it's easily gotten, especially when you're surrounded by the culture of the American dream. I'm Canadian, but I still know it and I still understand it and I still grasp it as a concept. But someone who's never heard of it before, someone who's never been around Americans, are going to struggle with that concept. We talk a little bit about the Japanese concept, Ikigai as well, which means purpose for living. I have my own motives for bringing this up in the book, but it does go to illustrate how a concept works and what it is. Now a lot of people seem to think this is really deep, just because it's a Japanese word

2:03and I'm sorry to tell you, it just means purpose for living. And if you were to add anything to that and I mean anything, it would be a purpose for living that shifts with circumstances and time. There are no accompanying Venn diagrams. You shouldn't have paragraphs of text. You should not have an entire book to explain Ikigai because that means you don't get it. Just like someone who's never heard of or hasn't been around the culture of Ikigai, wouldn't get it. Spend some time in Japan. Go there. Be surrounded by the culture for a few years. You'll get it. So the concept of the Renegade musician, it's the same thing. You have to go and be around other musicians who are actually Renegades. So in a way, that's my definition of a concept. It's not easily explained, but you know when you see one and you know when you are one. There are some true Renegade musicians out there and I'm cheering them on from the side.

3:07But guess what? I have news from the many other musicians who have a sense that they might be or could be you're probably not, but you can become one. And that's the point.