Assignment 19 - Max Morris

I've received so much great advice in my life that it's hard to narrow it down to just one, so instead I'll focus on some advice I received very recently that has already had a great effect on me, and in fact reduced by to tears. It occurred just last Friday at a fairly unlikely place and from quite an unlikely source: Kanye West. Now, I know a lot of people probably don't have much respect for Kanye because of the way the media likes to portray him as a petulant narcissistic jerk, but if you look past the tabloid headlines, there's a lot more to him than rants and reality star relationships. He is one of the only real boundary-pushing artists left in pop music, and his lyrics are full of inspiration and touching messages on his own struggles and insecurities. Because of this, he is my pop culture hero, both creatively and, despite his reputation, personally. Naturally, any piece of advice from him would mean a lot to me, and at his concert recently, I received just that. The whole 15 minute speech is a must-see, but if you don't have time for that, a few highlights are "There’s two type of people in the world: There’s dreamers and there’s haters. The only difference is one thing: Haters forgot about their dreams. Or better yet: Haters gave up on their dreams" and  a segment about the fear of the embarrassment of failure that is hard to replicate in text. I understand that the usage of the word "hater" may already turn off some, but this advice really hit close to home, especially in that arena full of like-minded people. Kanye is a dreamer, and now he's made it to the top, while the "haters" are just sitting on their computers pathetically typing away childish insults about he and his wife. Hearing this from someone who really has made it to a level that I would like to creatively, this was a very powerful statement. I am already focussing on living my life more positively and to take heed and go for my goals. I live life based too much on fear of possible consequences, but you can only regret things that you haven't done. Sure, you may piss off a few people on the way, but so did Kanye, and look at him now. You may think he's a tool, you may think he's a loudmouth, you may even hate him, but he's the most critically acclaimed artist of the millennium, and you're just some schmuck sitting at home playing X-Box, so I doubt he, and the rest of the dreamers, care. Live life for yourself, not others, or you can never truly be happy.