There are many brilliant artists in this world who achieve great, long lasting success. But, there are very few who are able to control their success and instead, their success controls them. ARR is someone who always stays in control. How?
When someone achieves great heights, great fame, fortune, recognition, etc., it's extremely easy for the human mind and spirit to get caught up in the frenzy and taking that success too seriously, ultimately, succumbing to that success and surrendering to the ego. Take a look at Himesh Reshamiya as an example. I don't listen to his music, but I have to admit, he had the guts, the energy, the vision to carve out a nice niche for himself and he has achieved great success, built up a huge fan base, etc. etc. An ordinary artist cannot do what he did. Unfortunately for him, he took his success and himself way too seriously and is now in my eyes a victim of his own arrogance and narcissism. Sure, he still has his fans and he may continue to belt out commercial hits, but let's face it, the party's over for him. Look at it this way: When you climb up against gravity, the more weight you carry, the harder the climb becomes and ultimately, you stop climbing and if the weight you build up becomes too great to handle, you could fall, and fall hard. If you climb without a lot of weight and don't accumulate weight on the way, you will keep going, God willing. Now, look at our man, ARR. Despite being in the industry for years and years, he has always maintained a dominant and successful position in his career. Yes, he has had peaks and valleys in terms of commercial success along the way, but his general status, the respect he's given and earned, the goodness that people associate with him remains the same. ARR has done what not many artists are able to do, and that is to create some space between himself and his success and to not let his ego become too heavy. It's his strong family values, incredible faith and spirituality that allows this type of detachment. He never lets his success control him. He is always wary of overexposure and takes nothing for granted. He has the ability to generate a healthy, broad perspective on his career, his life, his relationship with the ultimate divine that he does not allow himself to surrender to his own worldly success. It takes a very unique combination of personal elements and life experiences to maintain this attitude and strength of mind. But, his is an example that we can all learn to apply to our own lives. If ARR has taught me one thing about life, it is the value of detachment and not taking too seriously those things that are worldly and temporary. ARR has reinforced to me the value of creating space between ourselves and our actions and consequences, thereby helping to create a strong anchor against the winds and storms of life. ARR is surely enjoying the ride that is his life, but he remains in the driver's seat of his own success, while ironically, surrendering to the almighty. He maintains control of his success despite surrendering himself to permanence and because of that surrender at the same time, helping to create that healthy detachment. Thanks to a good friend with whom I had a discussion about this with last night, helping to stimulate these thoughts within me and posting them here.
