Henry Rollins. Henry F*ing Rollins.

Henry Rollins. Henry Fucking Rollins.

Henry Rollins unapologetically tells stories about his life, his philosophy, and his music.  His spoken word style grabs you by the collar and drags you on a roller coaster of emotion.  No holds barred. He’s the response for those people who have robbed themselves of their own enjoyment – he’s LIVING his dream – one need only look at his face while he tells his stories. When he’s up on stage, it makes you wonder where you can get some of what he’s having… and then about halfway through his show the realization sets in.

You’ve already got it.

You’ve already got what he has.

He stopped giving a shit. He stopped driving toward someone else’s view of perfection. Instead, he does the best damned thing that he can at the time, trying everything possible.  Does he fail? Yes.  Does he succeed? Yes? He’s passionate about every single step of the way because he stopped looking for the ideal.  He’s not bound by analysis paralysis. And he does something toward making himself better every single day.

I want to talk with you about the perfection of imperfection.

Nothing is perfect.  Nothing is going to match up to what’s in your mind’s eye.

Everything around you is imperfect, and through that… BECAUSE of that, it’s perfect.

If it’s music, Henry Rollins is there. He loves music, especially songs created on the periphery of the mainstream. If it doesn’t receive the popular airplay, he’s down with it. He’ll unearth the joy and passion from each piece, whether you’re talking about the Stooges or Stravinsky. He appreciates the energy and effort that went into making the music, and he treasures each note. And you know what?  That music is far from perfect.

But nothing is perfect. It was made. And the next time will be a little bit better.  And the next time. And the next time. Henry Rollins teaches you how to pray at the altar of persistence. How to revel in the now because that’s what is happening right now.  He demonstrates that there is no RIGHT time to go to Thailand, because that time is now. If it’s scary, do it. There’s nothing to be gained by safety. 

And when I say that you’ve already got what he has, I’m being absolutely honest. You do.

Because it’s not what he has.  It’s what he doesn’t have. He doesn’t worry about the future perfect. He worries about the now. He listens to the album as it was put down on the vinyl.  He thrives on those imperfections.  And he’s having a blast doing it. Isn’t fun what we were supposed to be having in the first place? Isn’t that the thing that is supposed to drive us? We’re serious. We’re worried about making it perfect, sacrificing the moment.

So when I say that we have it within us, I’m right. We have the ability to give it up.  To give up that notion of perfect.  We can push forward, perfecting our game. Produce stuff. Create stuff. Write stuff.  Put the music on vinyl.  Write about things that matter to us. Not worry about whether others will buy it and treasure it because the only thing we need to compare it to is ourselves.

The music is playing.  Time to listen to it.