Finding Your Own Path

Here is yet another post in the spirit of starting this blog.

I had mentioned in my very first post that there existed within me a strange desire to duplicate and copy the blogs/journals/websites that were the chief inspirations for this one. After all, how could I not? When I look at many of these sites, I cannot help but marvel at how cool and awesome they are. Reading their many posts, I find part of myself wishing desperately that I too was capable of producing such insightful posts on such interesting topics.

And from this admiration there comes an internal urge to do just that – straight-up copy what is already out there… get a similar title, a similar page layout, post about similar topics, and mimic those authors’ tone and style and wit. For many, many years I have recognized this urge whenever I contemplate a website that I might create.

Now that I am at the initial steps of starting a website of my own, I want to pay some attention to this while my legs are still fresh. What I have come to realize in the last year or so is the absolute and crucial importance to go your own way and follow your own path. As I am quite fond of doing, I will now produce some quite magical quotes that have helped me arrive at this realization.

In Daniel Quinn’s book Providence, he lays down a piece of advice that (as far as I’m concerned) is applicable to all of us, in whatever our life endeavors may be:

“What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it, written as well as you, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself--and thus make yourself indispensable.”

Quite simply, we are all unique individuals. We all come from different backgrounds and possess different life experiences. While it may be alluring (and certainly easier) to feel like we must follow the examples set by others, our true worth will be found by going our own way… by bringing to life that within us which no one else can draw from. By turning to and nurturing that which sets us apart, we “make ourselves indispensable,” and can then offer something the world has never seen before.

Another example… back a few years ago in Rolling Stone magazine, they had an issue about the “Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time.” Being a big fan of the Doors, I was quite happy to see them on the list. Each artist had a small essay written about them by a current popular musician. In the Doors case, it was Marilyn Manson who did the honors. His final paragraph further illustrates the above point:

“I've always thought of the Doors as the first punk band, even more than the Stooges or the Ramones. They didn't sound anything like punk rock, but Morrison out-shined everyone else when it came to rebellion and not playing by anyone's rules. There are a lot of bands that seem to want to sound like the Doors filtered through grunge or neogrunge -- whatever it is. But it's all just ideas pasted on ideas, faded copies of copies. If you want to be like Jim Morrison, you can't be anything like Jim Morrison. It's about finding your own place in the world.”

So here we have it yet again – finding your own niche, your own spot, and your own path through life. I think this is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Morrison himself – his originality both as an individual and an artist. I’ve heard people put down Morrison after seeing the Doors movie as being a “drunken buffoon” and “womanizer” – to make such blanket statements is a genuine disservice to the man he was and the life he lived.

And finally, to thoroughly beat the dead horse a few more times, I’m going to offer one last passage. This time it is from Joseph Campbell. In one of his favorite tales from the Authurian tradition, Campbell describes a brief story which has the Knights of the Round Table sitting back and relaxing, when suddenly the Grail presents itself (veiled) in the middle of the Round Table. Everyone was transfixed. And then, just as suddenly, the Grail disappeared. Gawain, King Author’s nephew, stood up and spoke:

“I propose,” he said, “that we all now set forth in quest to behold that Grail unveiled.” And so it was that they agreed. There comes a line that, when I read it, burned itself into my mind. “They thought it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group. Each entered the forest at that point that he himself had chosen, where it was darkest, and there was no way or path.

“No way or path! Because where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. The romantic quality of the West derives from an unprecedented yearning, a yearning for something that has never been seen in this world. What can it be that has never yet been seen? What has never yet been seen is your own unprecedented life fulfilled. Your life is what has yet to be brought into being.”

And again, there we have it. We are all unique. We are all genuine, authentic individuals whose life potential has never existed (or been realized) in this world. It is up to us to do it… and it may certainly not be easy. While there will always be a place for inspiration and admiration, we must ultimately find our own way through the forest on our own path. To do anything less would be to neglect the unique discoveries and adventures that await us all.

Upon entering this dark and yet-unexplored part of the forest, our travel may be wrought with uncertainty, peril, indecision, and doubt. This is certainly okay and natural. Wisdom cannot be downloaded or unlocked with a cheat code. We must slowly make our way toward the light that awaits us. We shall find that, with time, our confidence swells and assuredness grows with each step. And then comes that one fateful day when, upon realizing we’re headlong into the quest, the doubt and uncertainty and fear and hesitation are cast off like the moon’s shadow, and we realize it all couldn’t have happened any other way.