Thursday, December 18, 2025
To “give yourself away” means to unintentionally reveal a secret, truth, or feeling. Artists are stupid. No artist has contributed to the continuity of humanity. They’re in the “silly business,” while the kings take on the more “serious business.”
Can you imagine how useless I am? As a choral conductor I waved my arms. Same with my organ playing. I twinkled my fingers and toes. Same with writing – tap, tap, tap.
All this silliness, and I’ve amounted to becoming a millionaire, owning an airplane, homes, etc. I am financially independent. I’ve provided lavishly for myself with the silly business of giving myself away.
When you give yourself away, you reveal a secret truth. Life is useless, aimless, and purposeless, yet so deeply meaningful. It’s wordless, communicative, and so incredibly indescribable. How can music be meaningful if it doesn’t contain literation? Beats me. I’ve been to heaven and back with the music of Bach. Never left my body, but it sure felt medicinal.
Artists tell us what is masterful. It’s the one who sings and dances “foolishly” when the world is suffering, “seriously.” It’s the one who tells a funny joke at something solemn, dignified, and “serious,” like a funeral. It’s the one who makes his hospice nurse laugh. It’s the one who sings at a “joyful” event and the “happy” audience is reduced to tears.
The artist tells us who the master is, the one who gives himself away. Paint a picture during a conflict? Dance naked on the ceiling when you’re broke? Sit in the silence while the world is in a noisy frenzy? Take a nap in a boat rocked by a storm? “Sure,” says the foolish master.
The real master gives himself away. The Creative One laughs at what the world calls “serious business.” He leaves that to the king, the one who fools himself, thinking he’s running the “serious business” of the world.