One of those things that pop in my head at 1 o'clock at night is why some actors fade after some time and others just stay on the scene and get better and more popular. The same with public figures, coaches, fighters, bloggers, you name it.
I'm always wondering how do they stay relevant?
How do I stay relevant?
There's so much one hit wonders and 15 minutes of fame and then they disappear forever, in a lot of cases.
When I think about it the people that stay relevant are the people that keep evolving. The ones that keep working on their craft. They never seem to reach that: This is it! I MADE IIIIT! Moment. They just keep working on themselves as actors, but seemingly as people as well.
“If you are happy with your practice you are a shitty practitioner”
Keanu reeves is one of those examples, totally nailed it in the matrix but never really let fame get to his head. Riding subways, donating most his proceedings. Another highly admirable skill is to take whatever he does serious, take his training for John Wick. Shooting, BJJ, he's actually good at those things. He trained, does the things he needed to do and obviously what looks suit him. He's had to overcome some serious adversity and tragedies in his life. His attitude towards life keeps him on top of things and an inspiration for all.
An example from the opposite end: Jean claude van damme. Probably one of my most favorite actors and seemingly one of a by gone era. Hit after hit, and then things got to him, fame reared it's ugly head and bad decisions followed. His monologue in JVCD is great and worthwhile watching. Finally a semblance of the man from before, someone getting back to his path. A wounded warrior clawing his way back. A man too harshly judged, and paid the price. And unfortunately an all to common tale in that business.
Let's take arnold as an example of how things should be done. His story just in general leaves me in awe time and time again. A foreigner to US soil made it to governor. That's just mental. Look at how he gets involved with media, supporting causes, reaching out to fans, staying himself with his humerous take on things, he doesn't act like his above it all or too good for things. Appearing in many different projects like Epicmealtime (youtube food show) . He just kept analyzing his situation and trying to build something better. From the get go a smart businessman, getting into real estate after his successes in landscape development. Into real estate and then into acting where he just did what he wanted to do.
Conor Mcgregor, seriously where to begin. He just is himself at all times. What can only be described as the luck of the Irish it got him to where he is. Seriously though, very little luck involved. He worked hard, and then harder and more, harder, smarter, more. I can keep going. He's the perfect example of a sum of his efforts on a mental level, physical and emotional. In this day and age it's rare to see people just be such a complete and integral version of themselves. As much hate as he gets, he goes out there and just does stuff. Some of it is great planning, some of it is just action from another level of consciousness. He makes things happen by sheer will, dedication, persistence, self belief and the list goes on. He doesn't look like he needs to make himself relevant by anything else but just trying something else, whether it is fighting in another discipline, adapting his training,fighting style. This is a man that stays relevant because he just doesn't sit still and tries to stay in the box ( octogon?) people have put him in. I feel he can be used as a great example to put out there what you believe. Perhaps overconfident sometimes, but in all honesty, it's not like that has lead himself get somewhere he didn't want to be. He's continued appreciation for all he has and where he comes from makes him not squander his new found riches all too much. If we believed 10% ourselves as he does in him, I'm sure we could break some boundaries.
Corey taylor, the voice of a generation with teenage angst and rage. Front-man of Slipknot and stone sour. Overcame depression, alcoholism and a drug addiction. In the process he developed as lyricist and singer. The emotion he can put on paper and in song is really unique and captivating. He's not one to shy away from his emotions and that makes him approachable and relatable. Seeing Slipknot live was an experience that I'll never forget, it still gives me goosebumps to this day thinking back 7 years!
His dedication to his craft and the evolution is what makes him and Slipknot/Stone Sour stay relevant. He has the uncanny ability to be himself at all times and just oozes persona. Some of his intimate performances are just a joy to watch. Public opinion holds no sway and his made his bands household metal names.
Celldweller probably unknown to many but his music has been featured in plenty of high budget movie trailers as of late. A one man band with Klayton as mastermind, a guy that brought forth a new movement of hybrid music. Something dubbed industrial metal, but really one of the first to pioneer a mix between metal and EDM streams as Drum & Bass and Dubstep. He managed to put these together with an emotional equivalent I'd never seen before. Reject by several labels he just started his own. At home in many different styles he's definitely pushed the boundaries when it comes to electronic music, in essence making more boundaries disappear than pushing them. Creating different sounds for different spin off projects, an 80's retro electronic project, a more industrial metal focused project, several releases of ambient style songs as Celldweller. His range honestly is as impressive as his creativity. Now you might wonder, how did he stay relevant? By always putting out music he wanted to hear and believes in, instead of minding public opinion. There couldn't be more difference between his first and his latest album, and yet, I LOVE IT! Because it's him, because it's his sound, the way he experiences the world and his mind put into audio and the stories that come with them. He essentially created an entire universe from his music. Which lead to 2 books, which is pretty impressive on all it's own. I think it's a great example of the creative mind that's not oppressed. He interacts with his fans, but he doesn't let them dictate his pace or style. His not held captive by their opinions, cause the music isn't for them directly. Which is something I admire and appreciate about him very much.
I hope your kind of picking up on the recurring theme and red thread here.
These are all people that keep challenging themselves as a person, artist, athlete, actor.
They keep looking for new insights and experiment.
Maybe the latter is the most key component, if we don't experiment with different styles, ideologies and so forth, how do we know where the gold is buried?
There's a lot of talk about the comfort zone, and bla bla around it.
Don't even think about that, just do something that's seemingly unrelated and find out how it connects to things.
What happens if I'd change my nutrition for 1 month?
Ask yourselves questions.
What would my life look like if I started doing X?
Part of staying relevant is obviously not caring about being relevant to the societal construct, but to just discover what else you are or have an innate ability for.
I feel like all of these people have reached through some different levels of consciousness, different mental states which allows them to do things or make things that change our perception of what's possible.
