Reading my blog is often a pain in the arse because I ask people to do some work.
For instance, in this blog, I will ask you to click the link here and watch and listen to Laura Marling sing Rambling Man.
You can continue reading the blog without that, but it won't have the same effect.
Rambling Man by Laura Marling is one of my favourite songs of all time.
I've never really told anyone that because there's no real need for anyone to know, but it's such a beautiful piece of art that when I return to it (often unexpectedly), it has a profound effect on me.
I know Laura Marling only (only as an artist), but I know some of her backstory, where she comes from and what she's done and that makes it even more special.
She's mental, completely crackers like a proper artist should be.
The song itself is a work of absolute art and poetry. The lyrics speak to me deeply and change me, and the music that they're set against is absolutely beautiful, but one of the most wonderful things is her voice and the emotion that she gets into her voice throughout the song.
I choose to interpret the lyrics the way that I want to interpret them, and I hear a message that I want to hear, which is what I think real art does for anyone.
Rambling Man never became a global smash hit; it activates a minimum viable audience, which is probably the best way art should do.
The reason I explained this so explicitly, though, is because I recently listened to it while sitting on the bike peddling in my shed, looking out into the sunshine.
There are two shades of pink roses in my garden immediately opposite, and I noticed those, perhaps for the first time this year.
I listened to Laura Marling, rode my bike, and the sun was on my face.
I realised that there is a set of rules in my life which are non-negotiable and self-evident to me that I always have to try to abide by.
If I'm not riding my bike in the shed regularly, multiple days a week (better if it's outside, but time and weather dictate differently at times), then there is a problem.
If I'm not listening to Laura Marling or Malcolm Gladwell podcasts, reading books, or watching movies with my children or my friends, there is a problem.
If my life has become so overwhelming that all of these things are put aside for any significant period of time to achieve something else, then there is a problem.
In South Africa, on my recent trip, I was teaching people that 'your work exists to give you the life you want'.
As I write the leadership module for our digital business course and refine it into snackable content, I must remember that John Gibson taught me some years ago that first, I must know myself and lead myself before I can ever think that I could ever have the privilege to lead someone else.
Go back to the top of the blog and click Laura if you didn't.
You're welcome.
Blog Post Number - 3569
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