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Transitioning and Tears
I took off a couple of days from the A to Z Challenge. It felt good. Now, I'm back! I decided I wanted to allow myself more freedom in our last week, so I'm transitioning. Moving forward, I'll be writing on random topics I'm passionate about.
This is the transition part of the post. It has to do with authenticity. The "A" word looms large in my life at this point in my development. When I don't feel what I'm doing has as much authenticity as I hope, I transition and change until it does.
Tears
Prince was a huge influence on my creative production in the 80's when I was in graduate school. Many paintings, far larger than I would dare paint now, were completed with energy and verve, inspired by fast-paced song after song by Prince. I was deeply saddened to hear of his departure Thursday, and more than a little shocked.
News coverage can be grating and annoying but I've found what I've heard about Prince, has jibbed with what I thought or suspected. It's been so nice to see the rainbow of people from different ethnicity's, colors, and walks of life that he drew to him, through his talent. In fact, his broad-based appeal to so many, that would not typically even get along, let alone be in the same concert hall, is a talent in itself. His music was colorful and colorless at the same time. He crossed musical genres with ease, style and flair, with little regard for prescribed boundaries--a true artist. Prince was also deeply rooted. He held fast to his community in Minnesota, and the people there claim him. One woman in a television interview said, "He was ours," with a face streaked with tears.
Curiously, he was extremely sexy, androgynous and sometimes seemed asexual, all at once. I'm sure that because of his mysterious and at times deeply sexual vibe, he drew many people of varied sexual orientations to him. He had become increasingly more involved with our current Civil Rights Movement, he championed women musicians, was vegan...I could go on and on.
So now, as much as I wonder what took him from this earth, I also wonder who can fill those tiny, and at the same time, gigantic high-heeled shoes his absence leaves in the music industry, and in many of our hearts.
Some souls are very powerful and Prince was one of those. I liked his music. However, I was not a huge fan. I did not follow Prince's life. But there was something about him you had to admire. From a distance, I knew he was special.
ReplyDeleteI've listened to some of his music since his death and see so much texture in his performances. He was more than a prince. He was a King.
That is such an eloquent and thoughtful comment Ann!
DeleteWe're all saddened and lessened by his death ... I wasn't really all that familiar with his music but certainly knew of him and have been learning more about him since last week. Tears for him, tears for all those who feel his loss and absence as he transitioned into another world ..
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