Be content:

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Be content.

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That’s all I wanted.

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Truer words couldn’t be spoken.

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Just finished Avicii’s documentary on Netflix.

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Awesome.

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What a story.

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Dude was on top of the world.

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Had everything.

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Money.

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Fame.

Fortune.

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Traveling everywhere.

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Hearing people around the world love what you do.

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Yet he couldn’t escape.

Couldn’t escape his mind.

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Couldn’t escape the industry.

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Couldn’t escape the work.

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He was too caught up.

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Running a million miles an hour.

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Touring all over the world.

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While also producing.

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He was getting away from what made him successful in the first place.

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Creating music.

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Just to create it.

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Not to have it become commercialized.

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But just to be able to put new art out there.

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This is the struggle of every great artist.

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How do you create something true to yourself while also being commercially successful?

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Especially when people’s livelihoods are caught up in your art.

That’s a huge responsibility.

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They will push you in the ways that they want to see you.

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Not the ones that you do.

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It’s hard to leave that all behind, especially at the top.

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To stop.

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To drop it.

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To get back to basics.

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Even then, those voices inside your head don’t disappear.

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Learned that watching Anthony Bourdain’s documentary.

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You could have everything you want.

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Yet still feel alone.

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Lamar Jackson said it in an interview recently.

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‘I don’t like going to the club because I just sit there and feel alone.’

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That’s what happens to those at the top.

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You become isolated.

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It’s hard to connect with people.

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It’s hard to get the darkness outside of your own mind.

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The greats are all screwed up in their own way.

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All battling their own insecurities.

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All fighting their own demons.

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So many artists eventually lose the fight.

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They just can’t shake it away.

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As Avicii said, you can try everything.

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Meditation.

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Pills.

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Working out.

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But there’s still that nagging feeling inside.

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The one you can’t escape.

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How do you deal with that?

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I don’t know.

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It’s different for everyone.

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It’s learning to accept yourself for who you are.

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Learning to be present.

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Finding good people around you.

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Creating for creation’s sake.

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Leaving what’s giving you anxiety.

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Taking time off.

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Focusing your time elsewhere.

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Even then, those demons will still be there.

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Your mind never leaves you.

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You just have to learn to control them.

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Learn to harness them.

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And if you can’t, talk to somebody else.

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Let someone know.

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Get out of your own head.

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The worst thing you can do is take your own life.

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Unfortunately, even the geniuses can’t do it.

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RIP Avicii.

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Thank you for blessing this world with your gift.

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