” Every Artist is cannibal, every poet is a thief, All kill their inspiration and sing about their grief” The fly by Bono

Achtung Baby turns 30 years old this month. This stirs my heart and soul on every level.  In 1992 I met the band outside their Vancouver hotel with my then soon to be husband. He was the biggest fan and music helped him navigate the rough waters of a major mental illness. Of course I did not know this at the time. What I did know and feel was his deep passion and connection to a music that elevated and lifted his spirit higher and this in turn he shared with everyone he met. It was contagious.

There is another anniversary that coincides with U2’s Achtung Baby and it is the five year death anniversary of my ex husband’s passing. As I reflect on life and love and these anniversaries I reflect on the power of creative works and how we as creatives take pain and transform it into something else and then transmute this out to the world.

Let’s face it we are all here on this planet to learn and grow and we all have pain, trauma and sorrows. Some of us come into this world seeing and feeling every emotion and experience like a sunrise and that includes all of the pain and sorrows. This is an indirect quote from Bono himself.

We creatives all have something in common.

We take everything  that we experience and turn it into something else.

Art inspires Art and life inspires Art.

The world’s pain is fuel for our creativity as

well as all the positive emotions and experiences.

Every artist is on fire with the power to mold and fashion something out of pain.

We are the phoenix rising! We are the death and rebirth with each creative task. When the artist fully emerges if we are lucky we die to our own ego and we transcend. This may take a lifetime.

We feel it all and we need to feel! We need to connect with who we really are.

All creatives yearn to connect with creatives who see our spark and who set our hearts ablaze. Sometimes this is a powerful force and the fires can override and consume. We can be the vultures in the night looking for food to feed out creative passions and fuel us until our next muse. We need inspiration and we need connection. All artists are a duality and we are all here for a mission and this mission is the same. We take our pain, each other’s pain and mold it and fashion it into something that the world can use- Art! This experience is like no other. It is the highest high that one can feel and is the connection to the divinity within.

To celebrate and mark both anniversaries today I listen to Achtung Baby and I review old photos especially the one with my ex- husband and Bono and this feels cathartic. I let myself feel it all. Right now the world is heavy and the heaviness comes in waves. I let the waves come. I know I am right where I need to be in my place in the world. My spirit has travelled many miles over the past two years and today I call it back home. These soul travels are exhausting. I have crossed the oceans and the seas, I have walked the desert and I have sat under the Joshua tree “only to be with you, only to be with you – my love”.

Dedicated with Love xox Renee