Dirt & The Second Coming of Jesus

Bruce Springsteen was once asked "Where do you think your drive comes from?"

"I believe every artist has someone who told them they weren't worth dirt and someone who told them they were the second coming of Jesus and they believed them both and that's the fuel that starts the fire."

And thus speaketh The Boss.

So where does your drive come from? 

You don't have to answer that. Just think about it. 

Here's another question for you: Does it really matter where your drive comes from? As long as you have it, that is. 

Look. I think questions like the one posed to Springsteen are important only in respect to the context in which they were asked. Springsteen was being interviewed for one of those morning news programs you watch while drinking your first cup of coffee of the day. He was asked a question. One he's probably been asked hundreds of times over his forty year plus career. He answered and it's a good answer. Dirt and The Second Coming of Jesus? I wouldn't be surprised if that ended up in one of his future songs. 

Somebody either told you there was no chance in Hell you were going to amount to anything or somebody told you that you could do anything you wanted to do. Dirt. Jesus. Oh, Bruce. That's just brilliant. 

I used to think you should never pursue your dreams from a place of negativity. I've heard actors say, "I'm going to get that part and show them."

Whoever them was supposed to be. We all have our them's, don't we?

I used to think it was wrong to base pursuing your dreams from a place of Fuck You! and I'll show you. It just seemed to me that any kind of success, personal or professional, based on hate would be tainted. 

I'm not so sure about that anymore. Fire is fire. If it gets you going, if it drives you, is it necessarily a bad thing? Just don't let the fire consume you. Contain it. Focus it. Use it. 

Don't get burned.

I don't think Where does your drive come from? is a question artists like to answer. It's certainly not something they think about. Unless they're in an interview or conducting a workshop. I don't think about why I do what I  do or want to do. I'm focused on what I can  do next. That's where my focus lies. I want to create. I want to express myself as an actor/artist.

Then again...

Nobody is interviewing me and asking questions like What drives you? So I don't have to worry about whether or not my response has any merit. 


just keeping it reel
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