Staying true to yourself asks a higher order question: "What does it mean to stay true to yourself?" 

Some people might suggest this is taking the things you think, feel, and do, and applying them in alignment with the things you will do going forward. But all the notions that I have aren't necessarily me, rather just things I do in my extended experience. And to do is not necessarily to be. The person I am is still just a caricature of the person I am. 

A lot of people suggest that by the end of his career, Elvis himself was, in part, an Elvis impersonator. He had spent so many years "staying true to himself" that he, in fact, became an ideology of who he was. By being true to who he thought he was for so long, he had forgotten that he could be any other way. This somehow seems quite sad to consider. 

Breaking this down

If I consider that in 20-years from now, I might be doing the exact same things, in the exact same way; I would want to mitigate this as much as possible. For me, discovering who you might be is a result of trying new things. If it feels like some commitment in a singular craft is somehow lost in that process; I don't consider this to be a critical trade-off.

 keeping up the caricature of what I already think I am, but in fact taking it into a new environment in the hope to discover something new.

It’s also important for me not to take this stuff seriously, and I intend not to, but it's an interesting thing to observe. These are some personal ramblings, extendedly inspired by Alan Watts ideas on “Unmasking The Illusion Of Yourself.” If you've a few minutes, I'd recommend it highly.

"Staying true to oneself" is not a static or straightforward endeavor. I'd like to understand the importance of adaptability and continuous self-exploration.

Last year I was very kindly booked out to 

 in Zaragoza for an audio-visual show. Aside from the performance itself, I was invited to go on a local podcast to answer some questions regarding my philosophy as an artist.

When asked, I remember saying something along the lines of, "maybe what’s most important is to stay true to yourself as an artist". At the time, it was important for me to feel authentic in what I was doing—and to extend this—committed to a singular thing in the hope of defining myself as an artist in this space.

It’s been nearly 6-months since I had this opinion; and after reflecting some more, I think I’ve perhaps evolved my theory here.

Some thoughts on "staying true to yourself" as an artist

Hold up!

Rendah Mag

Print Timeline