Dearly beloved Prince fans,

After reading many of your comments on this forum, it is obvious that many of you have been extremely loyal fans of Prince over the years and my heart goes out to you for the loss you must be feeling.

In the wake of the Billboard Music Award's "tribute" to Prince, I am reaching out to you to offer a fresh perspective on this heartbreaking situation.

First, to offer you a little perspective on where I am coming from, Purple Rain (the movie) was released the summer of my Junior Year in high school. I had a Purple Rain poster hung on my dorm room wall during my Freshman year at college. Like you, I have always loved Prince's music, and I do own several of his albums, but I must admit, I did not follow him closely during the past 20 years. A few years ago I did attempt to search for some of his music videos on YouTube but really couldn't find much.

I did come across his Musicology performance on Jay Leno and was blown away. I kept digging and digging on the internet to find some more performances and I did manage to view the Staples performance of the Musicology concert on Youku (A Beijing-based video hosting site).

I knew that Prince fiercely protected his art so I figured this was the reason Youtube seemed to be scrubbed of Prince footage. I totally respected what Prince stood for and was even impressed by how well he managed to keep his work from YouTube.

The way I learned of Prince's death was when my 12-year-old son yelled "Mom, Prince died!" after reading the news on Instagram. My first reaction was disbelief. I had been keeping up with Prince on Instagram (Princestagram), and he seemed healthy and very much active just recently. I don't watch the "other people's" news so I didn't know about the recent emergency plane landing so like I said, I figured it must've been a joke or something. Once I realized it was no joke, I immediately called my kids over and we went on YouTube.

The first video I found was his halftime performance at the 2007 Super Bowl, a performance I had never seen before. It had just been uploaded by the NFL. Immediately I was brought to tears .... his beauty, grace, sincerity, and talent were undeniable.

Needless to say, ever since April 21, I have been watching Prince videos (performances and interviews) in all of my spare moments (while sipping my morning coffee, while putting on my makeup, while prepping dinner and yes, maybe just before I go to sleep). I feel like I've been catching up on 20+ years of his career-- not only his music but who he was as a person. Honestly, I wish all of these videos had been out there sooner .. oh well!

But as sad as it is to lose Prince, I feel as though there is so much to learn from his life and his music ...... and if we think of his passing as a "passing of a baton," and embrace what he taught, THAT is the best tribute to Prince.

His music was all about freedom, making a difference, and being a keen witness to

life and the world around us. For us to listen closely and create a ripple effect from his work is the best tribute to Prince.

Don't give away the power to pay proper tribute to anyone. You, the fans, are part of his true family. He created for you! Take what you learned from Prince and incorporate it into your life. Creating a ripple effect for all that he stood for is the best tribute to Prince!

- Make a difference in the world by doing "the work." "Too much trouble goin' on in the world."(Prince at The Aladdin in Las Vegas The Work Pt. 1) Put Prince's words into action in your own life .. make a difference somewhere, somehow, just like he did!

- Dance to his music every day! "C'mon y'all, DANCE!!"

- Sing along with him like you always did! "SING IT, ya'll!"

- Explore and express your creativity. He believed his creativity was a gift from God and expressing it was his way of thanking God for that gift. "I don't ask for much; I just say thank you." ~Prince

- Live authentically! Be yourself and live life on your own terms and not by the expectations of others!

From all I've seen on the countless videos I've watched, I've come to the conclusion that Prince packed more living into his life than 10 people (maybe more)!

Think about taking what you've been so blessed to witness and learn from him and how you can put it into action.

I have a new blog about doing work that is meaningful, and I am currently writing a post about lessons I've observed about Prince's life and how they are powerful, meaningful messages that can be incorporated into all of our lives.

I'll close with one of my favorite Prince quotes. I love it because he said this at an early age ... and he lived by this quote during his entire career! From the very start, he was always so clear about who he was and what he wanted to accomplish.

"For all of us, life is death without adventure, and adventure only comes to those who are willing to be daring and take chances." Prince, after winning Best Pop Album, 1985 American Music Awards

Again, my sincerest condolences to many of you. xo

[Edited 5/24/16 8:26am]

[Edited 5/24/16 8:28am]

[Edited 5/24/16 8:35am]

Well said!

SexFiendNikki said:

Well said!

Thank you, Nikki! I'm crying along with all of you too!

Prince said it more than once....." Do not idolize me- idolize Jesus"

Amen.