“You think that Luck
Has left you there.
But maybe there’s nothing
up in the sky but air.

And there’s no mystical design,
No cosmic lover preassigned.
There’s nothing you can find
that can not be found.
‘Cause with all the changes
you’ve been through
It seems the stranger’s always you.
Alone again in some new
Wicked little town.”

Words by Stephen Trask

The lyrics above are a reprise of a song called ‘Wicked Little Town”. I’ve never paid attention to it because it’s sung offstage in the musical “Hedwig” by a disembodied voice known Stephen Trask also know as Tommy Gnosis which then continues through Hedwig’s voice. I don’t know why I glanced over this lyric after all these years of knowing the show and film. It’s a realistic view of the meaning – or non-meaning – of our existence, so perhaps I wasn’t ready to believe it, and just waited out the song until the next number – the amazing ‘Midnight Radio’ closed out the tale of Hansel and his angry inch.

I’ve been feeling a need to take heed on this ignored lyric lately.

When it comes right down to it, you only have yourself. There is nothing but what’s in your heart. There are no signs to wait for, there is nothing destined to be unless you make it so.  We can open the portal to a creative flow by showing up everyday. What we’re really doing is just physically practicing a craft to make things happen.

Tend to your creative outlet everyday. Even if you don’t feel it.

I know I don’t feel like writing. I don’t know where I’m going with it. I write what I hope will resonate within the reader’s heart and mind. Although it’s hard, I work at not being attached to the outcome.

We all don’t know what the hell this reality is about.  So – just write. Make music. Rehearse your craft. Right now, I’m in the midst of a block, and I’m doing what I can to add to the pile. Maybe something will break.

Don’t try to fit into a mold. In the end, you’ll still be unhappy – and you may have lost the very person you used to be. Look at Hedwig. In the end, Hansel was her/his true self…and it took Tommy Gnosis to make him realize it, despite the angry inch he’s left with.

Be authentic. In the end, we only have ourselves. Shouldn’t we just be comfortable with that?