You can't master your future if you're still a slave to your past.
RihannaRead
I find that when I get on stage now, I don't want to perform a lot of my songs because they don't feel like me. So I want to make songs that are timeless.
Interpretation
Rihanna expresses a desire to create music that reflects her true self and stands the test of time.
In this quote, Rihanna reveals her evolving relationship with her art, noting that as she grows, many of her older songs no longer resonate with her identity. This desire for authenticity drives her to create music that is not only meaningful to her but is also timeless, suggesting a yearning for a deeper connection between her artistic expression and her personal growth.
In practice
During a motivational speech on creativity.
You can't master your future if you're still a slave to your past.
I used to feel unsafe right in the moment of an accomplishment - I felt the ground fall from under my feet because this could be the end. And even now, while everyone is celebrating, I'm on to the next thing. I don't want to get lost in this big cushion of success.
When it comes to everybody else's thing and their lane and their timing, I'm never doing anything intentional to, like, come after somebody. That will always be my biggest mistake or anybody's biggest mistake if that's their intention.
Keep your eyes on the finish line and not on the turmoil around you.
People - especially white people - they want me to be a role model just because of the life I lead. The things I say in my songs, they expect it of me.
Once you're back on your feet - if you ever make it back on your feet - that's the ultimate achievement. I remember I was in New York at the Trump Hotel and I woke up and I just knew I was over it. It was a different day. I felt different. I didn't feel lonely. I felt like I wanted to get up and be in the world. That was a great, great feeling.
In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er, Like coarsest clothes against the cold
It’s such a fun job, and it can be silly and light and about making people laugh. I think I was doing it a disservice by thinking it’s not something ultimately important. I always was saying, ‘I’m not saving lives; I’m not a brain surgeon.’ And that’s true—I’m not saving anyone from any life-threatening illnesses. But I get to tell stories, and that’s a pretty important task.
January 8 has been a lucky day for me. I have started all my books on that day, and all of them have been well received by the readers. I write eight to ten hours a day until I have a first draft, then I can relax a little. I am very disciplined. I write in silence and solitude. I light a candle to call inspiration and the muses, and I surround myself with pictures of the people I love, dead and alive.
To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself.
The artist appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a gift and not an acquisition-and therefore, more permanently enduring. He speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty and pain.
Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.
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