It's Better to Burn Out ...

... than to fade away.

Who could forget those famous lyrics from Neil Young, who has, over his amazingly long and varied career, managed to do neither.  This quote from his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bio tells it all:

Young has consistently demonstrated the unbridled passion of an artist who understands that self-renewal is the only way to avoid burning out.  For this reason he has remained one of the most significant artists of the rock and roll era.

~~~~
Just in from Lateral Action:  How Neil Young Became the First Artist to Get Sued For Not Being Himself.  The author, Susan Alexander, begins with a quote from Rolling Stone:

Neil Young is the only artist in the history of modern recording to be sued for refusing to be himself.  The suit, filed by Geffen Records, Young's label for much of the 80s, charged that he was violating his contract by recording 'unrepresentative' albums.  In other words, Neil Young wasn't making Neil Young music.

This fascinating and delightful article explores how Young has managed to "...maintain an ongoing state of creative flow throughout his career - even when he was creating to order for a record company, and even during the litigation that ensued - ... by mastering the art of self-renewal, which is something we can all learn to do."

Susan looks at what Young does (and doesn't do) to maintain this state of self-renewal and the creative flow it brings, and what this has to do with you and me.  Here are the highlights:

        ~ He doesn't use the F word
        ~ He knows why he's doing it
        ~ He gets himself
        ~ He creates his own groove

Here's that link again.

~~~~
You learn that no matter how hard you try to please, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is at first troubling and then really quite relaxing.
~ John W. Gardner:  Self-Renewal
~~~~