Loved every second of this...

I spent a lot of years wanting to feel the holy spirit.

I tried all the religions in North Carolina and never happened upon it until a Prince concert in Greensboro, NC.

Genius was as close as I ever came to god.

_______

There is the kind of genius that works hard.

You see Michael Jackson’s sweat and tears. Beyonce wears her hard work like a badge. They tell you that with hard work you could be great, too.

You put them on your playlist to suit for the game.

Then there’s genius that makes the impossible seem inevitable.

It is effortless.

You can never attain it.

You can’t earn it or deserve it.

You can only float in it for a time.

That was Prince Rogers Nelson.

Even when he was sweating he wasn’t working; he was channeling. Spirit, magic, wonder, awe, grace, the holy spirit —

he was both a master and a vessel.

You could work hard all of your life and never be his kind of genius.

exerpt

Tressie McMillan Cottom, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University and faculty associate with Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

https://tressiemc.com/uncategorized/there-are-thieves-in-the-temple-tonight/

JoeyC said:

I agree 100%. Throughout history there's been a lot of talented musicians singers and dancers. But Prince though? That man had it all. He had the musical ability. He had the work ethic, discipline and drive. He was smart. And he had charisma for days... Prince was a flawed individual(like all of us) but i really believe that he(as a human being), his musical gifts and aptitudes were ethereal, or supernatural.

This is more and more apparent isnt it?

Prince is a LOT

I agree Prince's work ethic, creativity, vision and spirituality is probably why I think about him and keep asking myself what do I need to learn from this person who I never met.

Rainbow1 said:

I agree Prince's work ethic, creativity, vision and spirituality is probably why I think about him and keep asking myself what do I need to learn from this person who I never met.

SO MUCH TO THAT

Lovejunky said:

Rainbow1 said:

I agree Prince's work ethic, creativity, vision and spirituality is probably why I think about him and keep asking myself what do I need to learn from this person who I never met.

SO MUCH TO THAT

Lovejunky said:

anangellooksdown said:

purplefam99 said:

Nonsense. Prince had innate talent, but he worked like a dog his entire life. No one can make anything look that effortless without an assload of plain hard work. The people who came up with him in Minneapolis said he outworked everyone - and even he said that when others were sleeping, he was working.

He worked so hard it put him in an early grave.

Genesia said:

Nonsense. Prince had innate talent, but he worked like a dog his entire life. No one can make anything look that effortless without an assload of plain hard work. The people who came up with him in Minneapolis said he outworked everyone - and even he said that when others were sleeping, he was working.

He worked so hard it put him in an early grave.

I see where you are coming from...

It wasnt Effortless as is mentioned in the original text....

I think perhaps what was being highlighted by makeing the comparison beween

MJ and Beyonce, both Hard WOrkers too...is that Prince never made a big deal out

of how much, hard and long he worked..

therefore he made it

seem Effortless

where as the others perpetuate a myth of some sort that

says " You can be as great as me if you work as hard as I do "

Her overall point was that you can work as Hard as you like

but Youll never be Like Prince...

Genesia said:

Nonsense. Prince had innate talent, but he worked like a dog his entire life. No one can make anything look that effortless without an assload of plain hard work. The people who came up with him in Minneapolis said he outworked everyone - and even he said that when others were sleeping, he was working.

He worked so hard it put him in an early grave.

Yes- he had unearthly talent!! But he loved what he was doing every day. Good luck is: 99% preparation, and 1% opportunity. He knew that all he had to do was get his music out there to the world, and it would happen for him...he believed in himself.

One of his biggest talents was his ability to continue to work hard and learn. MJ and Beyonce work hard but PRN was a whole other level. It is the ultimate double edged sword though. I now believe that after the Piano and Microphone tour, he should have retired for at least five years (after recovery from drug problems) to get some help and build a real life for himself. He "WAS MUSIC" as he said..but firstly, he was a human being and he shortchanged himself by thinking of himself as some kind of vessel of music. Had he lived, recovered the hard cathartic path to sobriety and pain management and retired for a little while, he might have been able to retake his catalogue and help it get the reverence it deserved by writing about it in memoirs and explaining his process. He might have been able to take back his personal narrative from those who either didn't entirely understand him and his motives (and really who understood outside of himself?) or had personal agendas/grudges. He needed someone to force him out of his shell and away from the music for a while so he could better reflect on it and his life. He needed someone to force him into an honest examination of himself but without music/poetic or cryptic lyricism as his main and only conduit of his personal issues..

Seahorsie said:

Genesia said:

Nonsense. Prince had innate talent, but he worked like a dog his entire life. No one can make anything look that effortless without an assload of plain hard work. The people who came up with him in Minneapolis said he outworked everyone - and even he said that when others were sleeping, he was working.

He worked so hard it put him in an early grave.

Yes- he had unearthly talent!! But he loved what he was doing every day. Good luck is: 99% preparation, and 1% opportunity. He knew that all he had to do was get his music out there to the world, and it would happen for him...he believed in himself.

[Edited 10/7/17 19:29pm]

One of his biggest talents was his ability to continue to work hard and learn. MJ and Beyonce work hard but PRN was a whole other level. It is the ultimate double edged sword though. I now believe that after the Piano and Microphone tour, he should have retired for at least five years (after recovery from drug problems) to get some help and build a real life for himself. He "WAS MUSIC" as he said..but firstly, he was a human being and he shortchanged himself by thinking of himself as some kind of vessel of music. Had he lived, recovered the hard cathartic path to sobriety and pain management and retired for a little while, he might have been able to retake his catalogue and help it get the reverence it deserved by writing about it in memoirs and explaining his process. He might have been able to take back his personal narrative from those who either didn't entirely understand him and his motives (and really who understood outside of himself?) or had personal agendas/grudges. He needed someone to force him out of his shell and away from the music for a while so he could better reflect on it and his life. He needed someone to force him into an honest examination of himself but without music/poetic or cryptic lyricism as his main and only conduit of his personal issues..

Genesia said:

Nonsense. Prince had innate talent, but he worked like a dog his entire life. No one can make anything look that effortless without an assload of plain hard work. The people who came up with him in Minneapolis said he outworked everyone - and even he said that when others were sleeping, he was working.

He worked so hard it put him in an early grave.

This brings to mind a quote from former Paisley recording engineer ('87-'89), Chuck Zwicky: "If people could see the amount of effort and diligence it took to be Prince, they would get jobs in banks,” ... “There was no trick. He just worked 10 times harder than anybody I’ve ever known in my life.”

I guess if you worked 11 times harder than everybody else, you might become a genius...but still not "his kind of genius." No other artist in the history of recorded music exercised that much control over their music and image. Not only was he a musician of unparalleled skill, but he oversaw virtually every aspect of his career after parting with Warners. It's staggering to even think about.

blackmoondaughter said:

Genesia said:

Nonsense. Prince had innate talent, but he worked like a dog his entire life. No one can make anything look that effortless without an assload of plain hard work. The people who came up with him in Minneapolis said he outworked everyone - and even he said that when others were sleeping, he was working.

He worked so hard it put him in an early grave.

This brings to mind a quote from former Paisley recording engineer ('87-'89), Chuck Zwicky: "If people could see the amount of effort and diligence it took to be Prince, they would get jobs in banks,” ... “There was no trick. He just worked 10 times harder than anybody I’ve ever known in my life.”

I guess if you worked 11 times harder than everybody else, you might become a genius...but still not "his kind of genius." No other artist in the history of recorded music exercised that much control over their music and image. Not only was he a musician of unparalleled skill, but he oversaw virtually every aspect of his career after parting with Warners. It's staggering to even think about.

It truly is

the amount of "mind muscle" he needed to keep it all expanding

is mind blowing.

JoeyC said:

cat said something about the daddy pop video, how they worked on it for months and "it took a lot of work to make it look that effortless".

anangellooksdown said:

I just listened to GOD Live from Xenopobia 2002

Yep...the experience took me to places

that I cant access on my own, neither from reading, meditation

or Prayer...

The sincere longing that emerges from the notes and the lyrics

is MY IDEA of heaven..

It all depends on what you believe..

If you believe that Jesus is the ONLY WAY then

obviously you are not going to make the connection between Prince Prophet and GOD

but

there are many schools of philosophy and religion that believe

there is never a time on this earth where God doesnt speak through

some person or another.

There have been many many people /prophets who inspire us to seek our connection

with the Divine ONE GOD....

Rumi, Rabindranath Takore,Abel,Enoch,Isa Chaitanya...hundreds in fact

over the course of history.

Prince is one who manifested in this time to Preach for OUR time....

He continued the SAME Message that was the essential command

that Jesus gave in the Bible

John 13:34-5

A new command I give you: Love one another.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,

By loving one another we come closer to GOD

Being at a Prince concert where all barriers to Love and Peace are

disinegrated by the Unifying sound of ONE LOVE

is Like being in CHurch...

many people have made the comparison

He was not GOD,

there is only one

but he was surely the Funkiest most profound preacher we have seen

and speaking for myself...

Since prince left the earthly realm , I have become a lot more serious

about my personal relationship with GOD

and its the Music that has motivated this..

The pure JOY is surely as close to God as Ive ever felt .