LNP3

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me..... and so many others that dedicate their time and efforts to their passions. What makes one person better than another? In my eyes everyone is equal and deserves equal recognition and respect. Personal preferences get in the way too many times though.

Pride, ego, and the inability to see the good in someone else's works often times cause problems and leave others alienated and bombarded with feelings of inadequecy. Those that have the strength to carry on after criticism however, will eventually earn their due respect. Often times the biased negative criticisms of others are a result of their own inadequecies. In contrast, there are those who belittle others to simply make themselves look better in their own eyes. Egomaniacs that are too high on the pedestal, that they put themselves on, openly disparage those, who they feel, are beneath them to satisfy some secret lust of self assurance. Penis or vagina envy perhaps? Musicians are especially guilty of this. You've got to have some ego in order to be a musician, but there are some that take it way too far.

Why do people become musicians? They want to express themselves! They have feelings inside that sometimes can't be released through other means, but it comes out in the music they play and write. Their inner ego compels them to play in order for others to hear. That their audience may pick up on the feelings or point of view being expressed by the artist. Such is the case with most anything relating to art. The artist, musician, or writer has been inspired by pain, joy, anger, and just the general feeling of having something to express. They do it for fun, for release, and to spend their time on this Earth doing something to make a difference.

Anyone involved in any form of art did not get in to it for obligatory reasons. They entered in to it out of interest. Somewhere along the path of life they were inspired by art, music, or the written words of others. They simply want to be a part of something so powerful. If it moved them in such a positive way, then it can move others as well.

I know for me, the spark of interest was the growing pains of adolescence. I've never really been prone to expressing my inner emotions in person. I'm the kind of guy that holds in inside until I blow my top. So I put the words to page, I send my sould through my guitar, and project my pain through song. If you've ever met me, I doubt you would say that I was an asshole. Why? Because I've found my release, I know my outlet for expressing my emotions, and I don't feel possessed to take my bitterness and aggression out on others. I just wish that everyone could also find their outlet and dedicate their time and efforts toward something positive, instead of trying to bring others down by way of disparagement, violence, or haughty arrogance.

These ideals need to be incorporated into our situation in Alaska. I'll reiterate that no one is better than anyone else. It's not a competition. Don't believe what you were taught in high school. We are all different, we are all human, and we are all about expressing our emotions for our own mental health. It's time we open our eyes to the need for mutual respect. You want respect, right?! How will you ever get it if you don't respect others? It's all give and get. Even if you don't particularly care for something someone else does, the least you can do is maintain a level of respect for them in knowing that they are simply trying to express themselves the best way they know how. Kind of sounds like the situation you are in, doesn't it?

In the case of musicians in Alaska (and everywhere else), they are up on stage performing because they have pride in what they are playing. They want you to hear it, they need you to hear it, and they just feel compeled to get this burden off of their back. To let you know that they have pain, they feel love, they feel angry, they have something to say, and damnit, they know that we do too!!! I think that every musician or artist would agree with me.

SO if you are also a musician or artist, I challenge you to understand and try to accept that these feelings are mutual and deserve respect. If it's not your style or what you would normaly listen to, have the decency to either have a little respect in the fact that they are putting their own pride on the line for something they feel so passionately for, or at the very least to not be so negative in regards to how others express themselves. If you can't help yourself but to be an asshole and talk shit, then your best option would be to just leave. If you are going to criticize, try to do it constructively, or don't criticize at all. That just makes you look like a heartless fool. R-E-S-P-E-C-T........ and that's what it means to me.

Love to all,

Brian