Celebrate your Indie-pendence!

Cheesy? Yeah, probably, but who cares. The fact is that you can't be extraordinary if you're normal. That's right, average people are average. Does that hurt your feelings or does it make you want to look at what makes you, you, and revel in it?

To really stand apart in this world you can't blend in with the pack, you have to have something about you that draws the attention of the average joe, to make them want to know more about you. To make them want to delve into anything you do, just to find a little glimpse of what makes you shine.

A perfect example of this is Michael Jackson. The Dude was different, from a very early age. He stood, head and shoulders, above the crowd from the time he hit the stage. He could sing, he could dance, and he could write. Most importantly though, he had the determination and drive to capitalize on those abilities, and a lack of concern about what the general public thought of him. He dared to be different, and it worked for him.

I just recently read a quote from a fella by the name of James Ray, that said "If you stand 10ft in front of the crowd, you are a leader. If you stand 10 Miles in front of the crowd, you are a target." That's probably a little paraphrased, but I'm going on memory here, cut me some slack. His point is valid though, it's one thing to be a leader, but to be a legend sometimes you have to make yourself a target. You have to draw that attention, and it's not always going to be positive because, let's face it, people like to tear down those they don't understand.

One thing that you'll find in the history of any "Legend", is that they were independent spirits. That's right, they marched to the beat of their own drum, they followed their gut instinct instead of the latest trend. They created markets for their art, they struck their own path in the wilds of Pop Culture and found that their path was the straight line between point A and point B. They reveled in their independence.

As Indies, we have the luxury of not having a label exec standing over our shoulder telling us how to write, how to stand, how to dress.............but, that means that if falls squarely on our own shoulders to make sure that we conduct ourselves in a manner that is going to intrigue, and attract the numbers and types of people that we need to help elevate us to the place we want to be. Art is not a game of chance, it's a game of strategy. We need to celebrate our Indie-pendence and put it to work for us.