Devotion without agenda
Bob Wootten was obsessed with Johnny Cash’s music.
So much so, he became a Johnny Cash tribute act in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
He played all the dive bars for years.
In 1968, Johnny Cash was booked to play a show in Bob’s hometown.
There was bad weather that night.
Johnny Cash made it along with his drummer, but the guitarist didn’t.
They were desperate.
One of the venue staff mentioned there was a Johnny Cash impersonator in the crowd.
So they got Bob on stage.
Ever the pragmatist, Cash placed one hand on Bob’s shoulder and said,
“All right, son, let’s see what you can do.”
Wootten smashed it.
He had played these songs hundreds of times over the years.
Bob saved the show, and the crowd went wild.
Johnny Cash hired Bob.
He was his guitarist for thirty years.
He played with Johnny Cash until he passed away.
After that, Bob reformed his Johnny Cash tribute act and toured until he died aged seventy-five.
The Creative Moral
Whether you believe it is luck, fate, or creative manifestation is up to you.
The moral for me is simple.
You have to share your big ideas and gifts with the world.
Do what lights you up creatively and spiritually.
If they resonate, others may breathe life into them.
Dido
Dido was a backing singer for the dance band Faithless, spending years trying to make it with different bands.
She finally got signed to Arista.
Her No Angel album was released in 1999, and it flopped.
Critics liked it, but radio didn’t, and that was the end of that.
So Dido took an admin job in an office.
And returned to being a backing singer for Faithless.
A year later, a producer in Miami was watching a Gwyneth Paltrow DVD, somewhat ironically called Sliding Doors, with his girlfriend. ( good movie btw!)
In it was a sync feature of Dido’s Thank You.
He loved it, sampled the hook, built some beats, and started shopping it.
The beat reached Eminem.
He hated the beats but loved the hook.
He was struck by Dido’s soft, haunting tone against her raw storytelling.
He wrote Stan around the hook.
Eminem didn’t alter it much.
He looped the first verse and chorus, “My tea’s gone cold, I’m wondering why.”
It became the emotional anchor for one of the most iconic hip hop songs of all time.
Dido later said,
“I just remember thinking it was beautiful, the way he used it.
It was like my song had found another life.”
Her management, sensing the opportunity, negotiated for Dido to appear in the music video.
They were right.
Stan was released in 2000.
By 2001, Dido’s No Angel, once a creative flop, was the biggest-selling album in the world.
It sold twenty million copies and made her a global superstar.
N.b. When Dido’s album flopped, she would have thought her album was not good enough. We’ll never know but it’s often enough to crush a highly sensitive creative’s confidence forever.
But that was BS, her album was good enough, it just wasn’t exposed enough.
Beware of the illusions and narratives your creative ego conjures up in your mind. Your creative ego lies…
Creative Faith Is Freedom
On the surface, sharing your big ideas with the world is about marketing and promotion.
However, the reality lies in psychological and spiritual realms.
To share your work with the world is to confront your creative ego, to risk failure, to be seen, to let go of perfectionism.
That act itself is both creative and spiritual liberation.
It is about faith.
You declare faith in your true creative self, even when no one sees the potential.
That is the real creative truth.
Proof in the digital age
In the last couple of months alone, I have experienced synchronicities a few times.
A former client recently posted a TikTok video that got so much stick he privated the video.
But not before Timbaland saw it.
Timbaland messaged him.
Now he is head of marketing for Timbaland’s company.
That video had fewer than one thousand views.
Another client, a therapist, and I spent five sessions helping her distil her brilliant ideas.
She made a few TikToks about them.
One went viral.
Now she has a publishing deal, and her book comes out next year.
How fucking cool is that?!
Embrace your creativity.
Share your big ideas with the world.
Delusional optimism, aligned action, and a good idea can change everything.
Hope this helps
Jake ✌️