I promised myself to write this blog every Sunday, but today, when I try to focus on what to write about, there is a bit of block there.
You probably know that feeling, something prevents you from getting in that moment of flow.
So I said to myself, just do it, just start writing, it will come.
In my career I have had so many times that I was thrown in the deep end and with no or very little prep had to just wing it. Scary at first, but exiting too, I must admit, I quite like it. More than that, I learn from it, not only a boost of confidence but also from an optimisation point of view, sometimes, you just have to trust your years of experience, combined with skills, healthy instincts and with pure intention, THAT is a winning combination. LEAN to the bone.
I have been very lucky to have influences from so many different fields, cultures, environments. Last Friday I got to revisit one of those environments.
In my past, I started a music channel where I interviewed Rock artists. It was called Taste iT Tv, as I wanted a little taste of what they were about, what made them tick, where does the passion come from, how do these creative, passionate and often pure people work and what makes them unique, how do they manage to inspire hundreds and thousands of people? What drives them and what do they all have in common?
Doing these interviews, I discovered one of the gifts I have, even though I don’t consider myself a ‘social’ person, as I am absolute rubbish at small talk, one thing I can do is have deep conversations with people, in a very short amount of time. People just open up to me. Why? Because my intentions are good and pure and they know I genuinely care. Respect and integrity are values I do not compromise on as they are core to who I am. And core to what I want the world to be. I truly believe that these values are the future of the human race and this world, and I will play any part I can in spreading them.
Last Friday, one of those bands I have interviewed was playing a festival near me. They were headlining one of the alternative stages. I went to meet up with them, to see how they were, talk about the future and the past and just relax and have fun, I really had a great time! I really loved it! And of course to see them play. Their live shows are always great, it’s not just the music, it’s how they interact with the audience, it is so much more…
I first interviewed The Blackout in 2006, hard to believe it’s almost 8 years ago. We hit it of immediately and that interview was one of the funniest I ever did. The guys were genuine, filled with drive, determination, hopes and dreams. They were just starting out then, but I knew they had something special. All of them are so unique but they work great together as a team. Over the years, they gained popularity, by working extremely hard and they got picked up by a label and they soared. The music ‘industry’ isn’t the best thing to promote values like respect and integrity and as is often the case, this label tried to suck the life out of this band. They got out, but not without a few scratches. Now, they have a kickstarter campaign running so they can take their future in their own hands and show the world what they can do. It takes guts, it really does, to keep going and just do it.
The Blackout are and will always be an inspiration to me, 6 guys with very different personalities, but together they have got it all, creativity, humour, kindness, strength, integrity, purity, courage, depth, loyalty. Rhys, Gavin, Snoz, Bob, Matthew and Sean, I hope the world backs their project, as they deserve it, and, leading by example, they have a few things they can give back to the world (not everything though, as there are certain things you probably shouldn’t get inspired by 😉 but those success elements, they definitely have them.
This example of a great team, uniqueness, drive and ambition is one of those gems of inspiration I encountered through my life and it will stay with me.
Life is filled with gems along the road, make sure you can recognise them, pick them up and add them to your chest. And when you need to, open that chest and let those gems sparkle and guide you.
As I said in the beginning, sometimes, you just have to start, even if you don’t know where you are going, just start, something great will come out of it.
Thank you and goodnight!
Yours truly,
Bri
x
PS: For those of you wondering about the positivity project, it is going great! Over half the people at the office have signed up for it, I was truly overwhelmed by how many people wanted to take part. Next week we are starting the intro sessions, it’s all coming together.
Brigitte Maenhout 