Lessons I learnt from Ayrton Senna.

On Ayrton Senna " No one tried harder or pushed himself further, nor did anyone shed so much light on the extremes to which only the greatest drivers go. Intensely introspective and passionate in the extreme, Ayrton Senna endlessly sought to extend his limits, to go faster than himself"
- Gerald Donaldson

The great Brazilian Formula 1 Champion, a king .

The importance of self belief was made clear from the very beginning of his career, he wanted to be the best at what he did and to achieve that he knew that he had to push himself, he had to challenge his limits. He demanded perfection from himself every time he sat in a race car  and especially at times perfection was not expected of him. His goal was to race, to race well without restraint and to win. His achievements? Inspiring a nation that needed hope, raising millions of children he had never met to aspire to be the best version of themselves and challenging our ideas of what it takes to be the greatest.

When it rained and other drivers saw nothing but an obstacle, he saw an opportunity to really display his gift. It's no wonder his life story inspires every fibre of my being. You cannot aspire to be at the mountain top if you don't prepare yourself everyday to be able to flourish in a blizzard.

Watching the documentary of his life 'Senna'  reminded me that we are all living by false standards. We have allowed the world to tell us that it's okay to be average, it's okay not to be the best, you shouldn't over work yourself even if you are doing something that you love. Absolute nonsense, trash. Senna taught me that if you want something bad enough, you devote every waking moment to it, you do not compromise on the standard you want to operate on, you do not allow anything to come in your way and most importantly, you are relentless in the pursuit of your dreams right until your last breath.

He taught me this. He died over 20 years ago and he taught me this. Like him, I want to inspire people beyond my last breath , I refuse to be sucked into this dark abyss that has trapped billions of human beings and stripped them of the right to immortality - mediocrity.

During one of his races he reached such a high level of functioning that it was almost like he was no longer in control, he won that race and proceeded to say he saw God. Senna died at the age of 34 in a race car doing what he loved on the track, and this was my only way of seeing it - this time, he met God.

Ayrton Senna

21 March 1960 - 1 May 1994.

Servants

Blog number two. I love being a vessel, I love writing and helping people, I love being a servant.

See most of us artists have forgotten our purpose on earth, to serve mankind. Our egos have grown since we allowed vanity to take root. These talents God gave us (Yes I believe that)  are not our own, they never have been. Our purpose is to speak to the people, to speak for the people. Our work lives forever so every time we perform or display it, it's not just for the audience in attendance, it's for generations to come. We influence the future's perception of our time, the decisions they make based on the goodness and beauty they saw in us and the paths to avoid when we were bad and ugly. We are the voices for the weird, the different, the down trodden and disadvantaged. We are the adhesive a girl uses to put her heart back together, the lash on the backs of sexists, the ones teaching young black boys the importance of self worth and knowing their history, we choke corporations with their ties when they want to squash us beneath their greed, we draw out and pierce the lying tongues of politicians when they forget who gave them power.

We are servants. Serving mankind till the last brush stroke, the last word, the last movement.

Your New Year(according to me)

New year, new possibilities, new opportunities to become the person you have always wanted to be.. I've never been against resolutions, I love the idea, even though I don't like the idea of waiting for the new year for you to start considering reformation (Yes I used the word idea twice, as long as you get the idea)

So for those of you who haven't penned some down here are a few that I'm suggesting completely out of a sense of self righteousness, a pedestal I quite frankly shouldn't climb even if I had the privilege of being Jay-Z at the edge of Beyonce's bed (Or Sascha Fierce's bed, who knows what they're into? No really, if you know my email address is ashwyntheperformer@gmail.com)  but still.. the point is I shouldn't be on this pedestal but I am for now, so let's get on with it..

1. The Xenophobic : Stop it. It looks ridiculous running in the streets burning tires and attacking people when we can watch AKA and Cassper Nyovest reenact a watered down version of the Nas and Jay-Z beef if it was over the right to massage Taylor Swift's feet.

2. Taylor Swift fans : Stop it.  We just let Justin Beiber in, don't ruin it for everybody, Arianna Grande has beeen waiting in line.

3. Fvck Boys : I don't not condone the use of this term but I do have a problem with men who think a woman's heart is their box of toys which they can mess up and only pay attention to when you're bored. So umm, fvck boys . Stop it.

4. Dem Girls. You know dem? Tell you the importance of commitment while planning to be as committed as Chloe Kardashian is to one facial expression .

5. Anyone who says they don't see colour : How? Even not seeing colour leaves just Black and white.. Black people have centuries of hurt to get over AT THEIR OWN TIME  and positive images to build for the young ones, unity IS the KEY, WE SHOULD LIVE PEACEFULLY AND WITH LOVE FOR EVERY HUMAN.. But that's not a reason to forfeit one's identity.

6. Any man who wears white socks with a black suit : Stop it.

7. Sexists : You have sisters and mothers who raised you, would you want to see them being treated as an inferior human being by any man? No! So stop trying to make people's sisters, daughter's  and mothers submit to you. It's simple.

8. Me : I should probably stop telling people what to do with their lives, this was the first time though so I still  hope you enjoyed it. It was special to me.....*insert awkward silence here*

I'll call tomorrow..

Promise....

Happy 2016.