Jim MorrisonJim Morrison at the Fillmore East Background information Birth name James Douglas Morrison Also known as The Lizard King, Mr. Mojo Risin' Born December 8, 1943(1943-12-08)Melbourne, Florida, USA Origin Los Angeles, California, USA Died July 3, 1971 (aged 27)Paris, France Genre(s) Psychedelic rock, acid rock, blues-rock, hard rock Occupation(s) Musician, Songwriter, Poet, Filmmaker Voice type(s) Baritone Years active 1965 – 1971 Label(s) Elektra Associated acts The Doors Website http://www.thedoors.com/ James Douglas Morrison (8th December, 1943 – 3rd July, 1971) was an American singer, poet, songwriter, writer, and film director. He is best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic and influential frontmen in rock music history.[1] He was also the author of several books of poetry,[1] and the director of a documentary and short film.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early years
1.2 The Doors
1.3 Solo: poetry and film
1.4 Personal life
1.4.1 Morrison's family
1.4.2 Women in his life
1.5 Death
1.5.1 Grave site
1.6 Estate controversy
2 Artistic roots
3 Influence
4 Books
4.1 By Jim Morrison
4.2 About Jim Morrison
5 Films
5.1 By Jim Morrison
5.2 Documentaries featuring Jim Morrison
5.3 Films about Jim Morrison
6 Footnotes
7 External links Early yearsMorrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, to future Admiral George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clarke Morrison. Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born 1948 in Los Altos, California. He was of Scottish and Irish ethnic heritage.[2] He purportedly had an IQ of 149.[3][4]
In 1947, Morrison, then four years old, purportedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, where a family of Native Americans were injured and possibly killed. He referred to this incident in a spoken word performance on the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album An American Prayer, and again in the songs "Peace Frog" and "Ghost Song."
Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleedingGhosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind
Morrison believed the incident to be the most formative event in his life and made repeated references to it in the imagery in his songs, poems and interviews. Interestingly, his family does not recall this incident happening in the way he told it. According to the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, Morrison's family did drive past a car accident on an Indian reservation when he was a child, and he was very upset by it. However, the book The Doors written by the remaining members of The Doors, explains how different Morrison's account of the incident was than the account of his father. This book quotes his father as saying, "We went by several Indians. It did make an impression on him [Morrison]. He always thought about that crying Indian." This is contrasted sharply with Morrison's tale of "Indians scattered all over the highway, bleeding to death." In the same book, his sister is quoted as saying, "He enjoyed telling that story and exaggerating it. He said he saw a dead Indian by the side of the road, and I don't even know if that's true."
With his father in the Navy, Morrison's family moved often. He spent part of his childhood in San Diego, California. In 1958, Morrison attended Alameda High School in Alameda, California. However, he graduated from George Washington High School (now George Washington Middle School) in Alexandria, Virginia, in June 1961. His father was also stationed at Mayport Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.
Morrison went to live with his paternal grandparents in Clearwater, Florida, where he attended classes at St. Petersburg Junior College. In 1962, he transferred to Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he appeared in a school recruitment film.[5] While attending FSU, Morrison got arrested for a prank following a home football game.[6]
In January 1964, Morrison moved to Los Angeles, California. He completed his undergraduate degree in UCLA's film school, the Theater Arts department of the College of Fine Arts in 1965. He made two films while attending UCLA. First Love, the first of these films, was released to the public when it appeared in a documentary about the film Obscura. During these years, while living in Venice Beach, he became friends with writers at the Los Angeles Free Press. Morrison was an advocate of the underground newspaper until his death in 1971.[7]
The DoorsIn 1965, after graduating from UCLA, Morrison led a Bohemian lifestyle in Venice Beach. Photographer Joel Brodsky took a series of black-and-white photos of Morrison. Known as "The Young Lion" photo session, the pictures included the shot that was later featured on the Best of the Doors LP cover.
Morrison and fellow UCLA student Ray Manzarek were the first two members of The Doors. Shortly thereafter, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger joined. Krieger auditioned at Densmore's recommendation, and was then added to the lineup.
While it is widely believed that the Doors took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception (a reference to the 'unlocking' of 'doors' to perception through psychedelic drug use), Huxley's own title was a quote from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in which Blake wrote that "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."
In June 1966, at the famed Whisky-A-Go-Go, The Doors were the opening act for the Northern Irish group Them, whose leader was Van Morrison. According to Manzarek, in his book, Light My Fire, "Jim was transfixed by Van. He studied his every move. He put the eye on him and he absorbed....The last night... saw us all in a monster jam session...Jim Morrison and Van Morrison onstage at the same time! And singing 'Gloria.'"[8]
Although Morrison is known as the lyricist for the group, Krieger also made significant lyrical contributions, writing or co-writing some of the group's biggest hits, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Love Her Madly" and "Touch Me."[9]
Decades before music videos became commonplace, Morrison and The Doors produced a promotional film for "Break On Through", which was to be their first single release. The video featured the four members of the group playing the song on a darkened set with alternating views and close-ups of the performers while Morrison lip-synced the lyrics. Morrison and The Doors continued to make music videos, including "The Unknown Soldier", "Moonlight Drive", and "People Are Strange".
The Doors achieved national recognition after signing with Elektra Records in 1967.[10] The single "Light My Fire" eventually reached number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.[11] Later, The Doors appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, a popular Sunday night variety series that had introduced The Beatles and a young, wriggling Elvis Presley to the nation. Ed Sullivan requested two songs from The Doors for the show, "People are Strange", and "Light My Fire". The censors insisted that they change the lyrics of "Light My Fire" from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl we couldn't get much better." This was reportedly due to what could be perceived as a reference to drugs in the original lyric. Giving assurances of compliance to Sullivan, Morrison then proceeded to sing the song with the original lyrics anyway. He later said that he had simply forgotten to make the change. This infuriated Sullivan so much that he refused to shake their hands after their performance. They were never invited back.[12]
By the release of their second album, Strange Days, The Doors had become one of the most popular rock bands in the United States. Their blend of blues and rock tinged with psychedelia included a number of original songs and distinctive cover versions, such as the memorable rendition of "Alabama Song", from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's operetta, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. The band also performed a number of extended concept works, including the songs "The End", "When The Music's Over", and "Celebration of the Lizard".
In 1968, The Doors released their third studio LP, Waiting for the Sun. Their fourth LP, The Soft Parade, was released in 1969. It was the first album where the individual band members were given credit on the inner-sleeve for the songs they had written.
After this, Morrison started to show up for recording sessions inebriated (he can be heard hiccuping on the song "Five To One"). He was also frequently late for live performances. As a result, the band would play instrumental music or force Manzarek to take on the singing duties.
By 1969, the formerly svelte singer gained weight, grew a beard, and began dressing more casually - abandoning the leather pants and concho belts for regular slacks, jeans and T-shirts.
During a 1969 concert at The Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Morrison attempted to spark a riot in the audience. He failed, but a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Dade County Police department three days later for indecent exposure. Consequently, many of The Doors' scheduled concerts were canceled.[13] In the years following the incident, Morrison has been exonerated. In 2007 Florida Governor Charlie Crist suggested the possibility of a posthumous pardon for Morrison.[14]
Following The Soft Parade, The Doors released the Morrison Hotel LP. After a lengthy break, the group reconvened in October 1970 to record their last LP with Morrison, L.A. Woman. Shortly after the recording sessions for the album began, producer Paul A. Rothchild -- who had overseen all their previous recordings -- left the project. Engineer Bruce Botnick took over as producer.
Personal lifeMorrison's familyMorrison's early life was a nomadic existence typical of military families.[19] Jerry Hopkins recorded Morrison's brother Andy explaining that his parents had determined never to use corporal punishment on their children, and instead instilled discipline and levied punishment by the military tradition known as "dressing down." This consisted of yelling at and berating the children until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings.
Morrison began drinking in adolescence, starting a lifelong pattern of alcoholism and substance abuse. Morrison lived a Libertine lifestyle, completely devoid of restraint. This was likely a result of his taking on the philosophy of Arthur Rimbaud; that “the Poet makes himself a visionary through a long, prodigious, and rational disordering of all the senses" and Friedrich Nietzsche's assessment that “whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger."
Once Morrison graduated from UCLA, he broke off most of his family contact. By the time Morrison's music ascended the top of the charts in 1967, he had not been in communication with his family for more than a year and falsely claimed that his parents and siblings were dead (or claiming, as it has been widely misreported, that he was an only child). This misinformation was published as part of the materials distributed with The Doors' self-titled debut album.
In a letter to the Florida Probation and Parole Commission District Office dated October 2, 1970, Morrison's father acknowledged the breakdown in family communications, the result of an argument over his assessment of his son's musical talents. He said he could not blame his son for being reluctant to initiate contact, and that he was proud of him nonetheless.[20]
Women in his lifeMorrison met his long-term companion,[21] Pamela Courson, well before he gained any fame or fortune,[22] and she encouraged him to develop his poetry. At times, Courson used the surname "Morrison," with his apparent consent or at least lack of concern. After Courson's death in 1974, the probate court in California decided that she and Morrison had what qualified as a common law marriage (see below, under "Estate Controversy").
Courson and Morrison's relationship was a stormy one, however, with frequent loud arguments, and periods of separation. Biographer Danny Sugerman surmised that part of their difficulties may have stemmed from a conflict between their respective commitments to an open relationship and the consequences of living in such a relationship. However, in No One Here Gets Out Alive (by Sugerman and Jerry Hopkins), a different reason is proposed for the couple's relationships problems: that they were keeping secrets from each other and this caused the conflicts and separations.
In 1970, Morrison participated in a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony with rock critic and science fiction/fantasy author Patricia Kennealy. Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister,[23] the couple signed a document declaring themselves wedded;[24] however, none of the necessary paperwork for a legal marriage was filed with the state. Kennealy discussed her experiences with Morrison in her autobiography Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison, and in an interview reported in the book Rock Wives.
Morrison also regularly slept with fans and had numerous short flings with women who were celebrities in their own right, including Nico, the singer associated with The Velvet Underground, a one night stand with singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, an on again off again relationship with 16 Magazine's editor in chief, Gloria Stavers, and an alleged alcohol-fueled encounter with Janis Joplin. Judy Huddleston also recalls her relationship with Morrison in Living and Dying with Jim Morrison. At the time of his death, there were reportedly as many as 20 paternity actions pending against him, although no claims were made against his estate by any of the putative paternity claimants, and the only person making a public claim to being Morrison's son was shown to be a fraud. [25]
DeathMorrison moved to Paris in March 1971, taking up residence in an apartment. Once in Paris, Morrison grew a beard.[26] By all accounts Morrison became depressed while in Paris, and was planning to return to the US; however, he admired the city's architecture and would go for long walks through the city.[27]
It was in Paris that Morrison made his last studio recording, with two American street musicians — a session dismissed by Manzarek as "drunken gibberish."[28] Regardless, the session included a version of a song-in-progress, "Orange County Suite," which can be heard on the bootleg Lost Paris Tapes.
Morrison died on July 3, 1971, at age 27. In the official account of his death, he was found in a Paris apartment bathtub by Courson. Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play. The absence of an official autopsy has left many questions regarding Morrison's cause of death.
In Wonderland Avenue, Danny Sugerman discussed his encounter with Courson after she returned to the U.S. According to Sugerman's account, Courson stated that Morrison had died of a heroin overdose, inhaling the substance because he thought it was cocaine. Sugerman added that Courson had given numerous contradictory versions of Morrison's death, at times saying that she had killed her common-law husband, or that his death was her fault. Courson's story of Morrison's unintentional ingestion of cocaine, followed by accidental overdose, is supported by the confession of Alain Ronay, who has written that Morrison died of a hemorrhage after snorting Courson's heroin, and that Courson nodded off, leaving Morrison bleeding to death instead of phoning for medical help.[29]
Ronay confessed in an article in Paris-Match that he then helped cover up the circumstances of Morrison's death.[30] In the epilogue of No One Here Gets Out Alive, Hopkins and Sugerman write that Ronay and Varda say Courson lied to police who responded to the death scene and later in her deposition, telling them Morrison never took drugs.
In the epilogue to No One Here Gets Out Alive, Hopkins' says that 20 years after Morrison's death Ronay and Varda broke silence and gave this account: They arrived at the house shortly after Morrison's death and Courson said that, prior to it, she and Morrison had taken heroin after a night of drinking in bars. Then, Morrison had been coughing badly, had gone to take a bath, and had thrown up blood. Then, Courson said he appeared to recover, she went to sleep; when she awoke, he was unresponsive and she called for medical assistance.
Courson herself died of a heroin overdose three years later. Like Morrison, she was 27 years old at the time of her death.
However, in the epilogue of No One Here Gets Out Alive, Hopkins and Sugerman also claim that Morrison had asthma and was suffering from a respiratory condition involving a chronic cough and throwing up blood on the night of his death; this theory is partially supported in The Doors (written by the remaining members of the band) in which they claim Morrison had been coughing up blood for nearly two months in Paris. However, none of the members of the Doors were in Paris with Morrison in the months before his death.
In the first version of No One Here Gets Out Alive published in 1980, Sugarman and Hopkins gave some credence to the theory that Morrison may not have died at all, calling the fake death theory “not as far-fetched as it might seem”. [31] This theory led to considerable distress for Morrison's loved ones over the years, notably when fans would stalk them.[32][33]In 1995, a new epilog was added to Sugarman and Hopkins' book, giving new facts about Morrison's death and discounting the fake death theory, saying “As time passed, some of Jim and Pamela [Courson's] friends began to talk about what they knew, and although everything they said pointed irrefutably to Jim's demise, there remained and probably always will be those who refuse to believe that Jim is dead and those who will not allow him to rest in peace.”[34]
In a July 2007 newspaper interview, a self-described close friend of Morrison's, Sam Bernett, resurrected an old rumour and announced that Morrison actually died of a heroin overdose in the Rock 'n' Roll Circus nightclub, on the Left Bank in Paris. Bernett claims that Morrison came to the club to buy heroin for Courson, then did some himself and died in the bathroom. Bernett alleges that Morrison was then moved back to the rue Beautreillis apartment and dumped in the bathtub by the same two drug dealers from whom Morrison had purchased the heroin. Bernett says those who saw Morrison that night were sworn to secrecy, in order to prevent a scandal for the famous club,[35] and that some of the witnesses immediately left the country. However, this is just the latest of many in a long line of old rumours and conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Morrison,[36][37] and is less supported by witnesses than are the accounts of Ronay and Courson (cited above).[38]
Grave siteMorrison is buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in eastern Paris, one of the city's most visited tourist attractions. The grave had no official marker until French officials placed a shield over it, which was stolen in 1973. In 1981, Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin placed a bust of Morrison and the new gravestone with Morrison's name at the grave to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death;[39] the bust was defaced through the years by the cemetery vandals and later stolen in 1988.[40] In the 1990s a flat stone was placed on the grave, possibly by his birth family, with the Greek inscription: ???? ??? ??????? ??????. Mikulin later made two more Morrison's portraits in bronze, but is awaiting the license to place a new sculpture on the tomb.
Estate controversyIn his will, made in Los Angeles County on February 12, 1969, Morrison (who described himself as "an unmarried person") left his entire estate to Courson, also naming her co-executor with his attorney, Max Fink. She thus inherited everything upon Morrison’s death in 1971.
When Courson died in 1974, a battle ensued between Morrison’s and Courson’s parents over who had legal claim to what had been Morrison’s estate. Since Morrison left a will, the question was effectively moot. On his death, his property became Courson’s; and on her death, her property passed to her next heirs at law, her parents. Morrison's parents contested the will under which Courson and now her parents had inherited their son’s property.
To bolster their positions, Courson’s parents presented a document they claimed she had acquired in Colorado, apparently an application for a declaration that she and Morrison had contracted a common-law marriage under the laws of that state. The ability to contract a common-law marriage was abolished in California in 1896, but the state's conflict of laws rules provided for recognition of common-law marriages lawfully contracted in foreign jurisdictions — and Colorado was one of the 11 U.S. jurisdictions that still recognized common-law marriage. As long as a common-law marriage was lawfully contracted under Colorado law, it was recognized as a marriage under California lawArtistic rootsAs a naval family, the Morrisons relocated frequently. Consequently, Morrison's early education was routinely disrupted as he moved from school to school. Nonetheless, he proved to be an intelligent and capable student drawn to the study of literature, poetry, religion, philosophy, and psychology, among other fields.
Biographers have consistently pointed to a number of writers and philosophers who influenced Morrison's thinking and, perhaps, behavior. While still in his teens, Morrison discovered the works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He was also drawn to the poetry of William Blake, Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac also had a strong influence on Morrison's outlook and manner of expression; Morrison was eager to experience the life described in Kerouac's On the Road. He was similarly drawn to the works of the French writer Céline. Céline's book, Voyage au Bout de la Nuit (Journey to the End of the Night) and Blake's Auguries of Innocence both echo through one of Morrison's early songs, "End of the Night." Morrison later met and befriended Michael McClure, a well known beat poet. McClure had enjoyed Morrison's lyrics but was even more impressed by his poetry and encouraged him to further develop his craft.
Morrison's vision of performance was colored by the works of 20th century French playwright Antonin Artaud (author of Theater and its Double) and by Julian Beck's Living Theater.
Other works relating to religion, mysticism, ancient myth and symbolism were of lasting interest, particularly Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. James Frazer's The Golden Bough also became a source of inspiration and is reflected in the title and lyrics of the song "Not to Touch the Earth."
Morrison was particularly attracted to the myths and religions of Native American cultures.[41] While he was still in school, his family moved to New Mexico where he got to see some of the places and artifacts important to the Southwest Indigenous cultures. These interests appear to be the source of many references to creatures and places, such as lizards, snakes, deserts and "ancient lakes" that appear in his songs and poetry. His interpretation of the practices of a Native American "shaman" were worked into some of Morrison's stage routine, notably in his interpretation of the Ghost Dance, and a song on his later poetry album, The Ghost Song. The songs "My Wild Love" and "Wild Child" were also inspired by his ideas of Native American rhythm and ritual. He also consumed 8 buttons of peyote and tripped for a week and wrote about seeing the "God of Peyote."
InfluenceMorrison remains one of the most popular and influential singers/writers in rock history, as The Doors' catalog has become a staple of classic rock radio stations. To this day, he is widely regarded as the prototypical rock star: surly, sexy, scandalous and mysterious. The leather trousers he was fond of wearing both onstage and off have since become stereotyped as rock star apparel.
Seminal punk rock band Iggy and the Stooges are said to have formed after lead singer Iggy Pop was inspired by Morrison while attending a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[42] One of Pop's most popular songs, "The Passenger", is said to be based on one of Morrison's poems.[43] After Morrison's death, Pop was considered as a replacement lead singer for The Doors; the surviving Doors gave him some of Morrison's belongings, and hired him as a vocalist for a series of shows.
Wallace Fowlie, professor emeritus of French literature at Duke University, wrote Rimbaud and Jim Morrison, subtitled "The Rebel as Poet – A Memoir." In this book, Fowlie recounts his surprise at receiving a fan letter from Morrison who, in 1968, thanked him for his latest translation of Arthur Rimbaud's verse into English. "I don't read French easily", he wrote, "...your book travels around with me." Fowlie went on to give lectures on numerous campuses comparing the lives, philosophies and poetry of Morrison and Rimbaud.
Scott Weiland, the vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, as well as Scott Stapp of Creed, claim Morrison to be their biggest influence and inspiration. Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver have both covered "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors. Weiland also filled in for Morrison to perform "Break On Through" with the rest of the Doors. Stapp filled in for Morrison for "Light my fire", "Riders on the Storm" and "Roadhouse Blues" on VH1 Storytellers. Creed performed their version of "Riders on the Storm" with Robbie Krieger for the 1999 Woodstock Festival.
The book The Doors by the remaining Doors quotes Morrison's close friend Frank Lisciandro as saying that too many people took a remark of Morrison's that he was interested in revolt, disorder, and chaos “to mean that he was an anarchist, a revolutionary, or worse a nihilist. Hardly anyone noticed that Jim was restating Rimbaud and the Surreal poets.”[44]BOOKSBy Jim MorrisonsThe Lords and The New Creatures (1969). 1985 edition: ISBN 0-7119-0552-5 An American Prayer (1970) privately printed by Western Lithographers. (Unauthorized edition also published in 1983, Zeppelin Publishing Company, ISBN 0-915628-46-5. The authenticity of the unauthorized edition has been disputed.) Wilderness The Lost Writings Of Jim Morrison (1988). 1990 edition: ISBN 0-14-011910-8 The American Night: The Writings of Jim Morrison (1990). 1991 edition: ISBN 0-670-83772-5 About Jim MorrisonLinda Ashcroft, Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison, (1997) ISBN 1-56025-249-9 Lester Bangs, "Jim Morrison: Bozo Dionysus a Decade Later" in Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader, John Morthland, ed. Anchor Press (2003) ISBN 0-375-71367-0 Patricia Butler, Angels Dance and Angels Die: The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison, (1998) ISBN 0-8256-7341-0 Stephen Davis, Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend, (2004) ISBN 1-592-40064-7 John Densmore, Riders On The Storm: My Life With Jim Morrison and the Doors (1991) ISBN 0-385-30447-1 Dave DiMartino, Moonlight Drive (1995) ISBN 1-886894-21-3 Wallace Fowlie, Rimbaud and Jim Morrison (1994) ISBN 0-8223-1442-8 Jerry Hopkins, The Lizard King: The Essential Jim Morrison (1995) ISBN 0-684-81866-3 Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, No One Here Gets Out Alive (1980) ISBN 0-85965-138-X Patricia Kennealy, Strange Days: My Life With And Without Jim Morrison (1992) ISBN 0-525-93419-7 Frank Lisciandro, Morrison — A Feast Of Friends (1991) ISBN 0-446-39276-6 Frank Lisciandro, Jim Morrison — An Hour For Magic (A Photojournal) ISBN 0-85965-246-7 Ray Manzarek, Light My Fire (1998) ISBN 0-446-60228-0L. First by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman (1981) Peter Jan Margry, The Pilgrimage to Jim Morrison's Grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery: The Social Construction of Sacred Space. In idem (ed.), Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World. New Itineraries into the Sacred. Amsterdam University Press, 2008, p. 145-173. Thanasis Michos, The Poetry of James Douglas Morrison (2001) ISBN 960-7748-23-9 (Greek) Mark Opsasnick, The Lizard King Was Here: The Life and Times of Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Virginia (2006) ISBN 1-4257-1330-0 James Riordan & Jerry Prochnicky, Break on through : The Life and Death of Jim Morrison (1991) ISBN 0-688-11915-8 Adriana Rubio, Jim Morrison: Ceremony...Exploring the Shaman Possession (2005) ISBN 0-9766590-0-X The Doors (remaining members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore) with Ben Fong-Torres, The Doors (2006) ISBN 1-4013-0303-X Films about Jim MorrisonThe Doors (1991), A film by director Oliver Stone, starring Val Kilmer as Morrison and with cameos by Krieger and Densmore. Kilmer's performance was praised by critics. Members of the group criticized Stone's portrayal of Morrison, however. [46]
From: Don Monteith
January 8th, 2005 at 8:12 am
I hate to keep posting the negative responses to your articles, because despite my responses I am inspired by what you are doing and saying here.
“I’d gladly give it all up and live in a shack if that was the price I’d have to pay to live my mission.” — If I were the only one to consider in reaching my goals I’d do this as well. I have 3 children, and sure they’d eventually get over it, but how do you explain to children why they don’t have their own room anymore, why they can’t go to the private school they’ve been going to, why christmas isn’t very big this year…
I AM a CHICKEN when it comes to following my dreams, I know this, and I’m overcoming it, not by taking a great leap of faith, but by making small gains towards that goal over time.
I don’t mean this as an attack, but as an observation…It’s always easier to say that you should take that leap of faith to someone when you’re successfully doing what you want to be doing. I’m not telling you to not help people in this way, because there will be that 1 person who takes that step based on reading your blog and they will become GREATLY successful and they’ll owe it all to you. I guess the purpose of this post is to defend my hesitation more than to talk anyone else out of their own decisions.
Here’s an idea though Steve…Shut down Dexterity.com, quit selling your games you’ve already written, so that you can completely focus on your dream of helping people and speaking…That would be the equivalent of asking us to give up the lives we’ve built to go after our dreams.
January 8th, 2005 at 8:51 am
I have a family with 2 kids as well (ages 1 and 4). Of course I don’t expect to have to move to a shack. But I’d rather see my kids grow up with the model of a father who is very happy and fulfilled and doing what he really dreams of doing instead of just working 9-5 at some random job. That’s more important to me than what material stuff we have in our lives.
But in reality, I expect to get both. When I work each day from doing what I love, the money takes care of itself. There is no trade-off in my mind between doing what I love and having all the external trappings of success — they’re a package deal. You just have to decide to get both.
I’ve already done the quitting part by burning the ships whenever I needed to make a big change. When I graduated college, I quit my full-time contractor job as a game programmer and dove full-time into building my own games business, with no income to start. Then when I wanted to get out of retail development, I completely shut down that business and terminated my contract with my agent (no additional income) and switched over to shareware full-time, building a new income source from the ground up. And if continuing to run dexterity.com were holding me back, I’d shut it down today too, but given that I can maintain it on about an hour a week, I’ve kept it running as a hobby, especially since it’s something I still enjoy doing in a limited capacity. I’m still sending out royalty checks every month, so continuing the business helps other indie developers as well. But if this was a 40-hour per week operation that got in the way of what I’m doing now, then I would shut it down in a heartbeat.
I don’t see living this way as risky. If I stop doing something that no longer inspires me, then what have I lost? Nothing. But if I hold back out of fear, then I’m losing a great deal. When people clutch onto jobs they hate and stuff that doesn’t really matter to them, they’re holding nothing but dust. They have nothing to lose by letting go of their attachments, although they think they do.
If setbacks happen, such as if you run low on money, then what does it matter if you can’t buy all the Christmas presents your kids want? Commercial gifts have little real value anyway. Kids get toys they don’t even play with. How is that even a sacrifice if you can’t provide it? To me an example of a real gift was seeing Dr. Wayne Dyer invite his daughter up on stage with him to sing in front of his audience of 2000 (since she wants to be a singer), and he helped encourage her to produce her first CD (I own a copy). Now that’s a gift, but not the kind you can buy at the mall.
A little secret I should convey is that there seems to be some force in the universe that will conspire to help you achieve your dreams when you really get yourself aligned with them and moving committedly in that direction. Once you get started on the right path for you, you don’t have to go it alone. I don’t know precisely why this is so, but it just always seems to work that way. When you know you’re doing what you really feel you should be doing, everything just clicks. Even when setbacks occur, right behind them is a new opportunity that turns the setback seem into a stepping stone.
Inaction grows fear. Action melts it. When you stand still, you feel fear. When you move, there just isn’t any.
January 8th, 2005 at 9:42 am
Children mean that you can’t suddently stop doing everything you did, naturally, it just takes more time, but I think that it isn’t impossible. Anyway, that’s why people should start following dreams when young, without family and children. The problem is, young people usually don’t exactly know what their dream is. They are usually(not everyone of course) in the cage of routine that the society linked-learn, do school, unversity, find job with steady income…then bang, you are 35, you have family and realise that the job isn’t exactly what fullfils you. Of course, you can change it but you will pay for the time you lost, it will be harder now. That’s why I used my brake and started now working on my dreams as relatively young man:). I’m encouraging everyone - start thinking about yourself and your dreams as soon as possible, don’t fall into daily routines, that’s a killer for your spirit.
January 8th, 2005 at 10:00 am
Steve i guess you moderate each comments before their displaying.
But you should indicate that the comment will be avaible after moderation because people simply don’t know and they can think the post hasn’t be send to your website and so, repost again a similar message.(like me on your precedent post
January 8th, 2005 at 10:17 am
Comments are indeed moderated, so there’s a delay before they show up. I didn’t want to have to do that, but there are bots attempting to post comment spam every day now. This blog has filters that auto-delete most of it (virtually all of it is from online poker sites), but some still gets through. I wish the developer of this blog software would add an image-based verification system for posting comments, but he seems resistant to the idea (despite a lot of bloggers requesting it) because he claims it would reduce accessibility.
January 8th, 2005 at 11:05 am
Try spam-karma plugin which should take care of this problem. I used to get tons of p*o*k*e*r spam, but I hardly get any spam. Comments which are definitely spam are auto deleted, other comments are either automatically approved or placed in moderatio queue depending upon the probability of comment being spam.
JD
January 8th, 2005 at 11:11 am
Steve,
I just read your latest blog entry and I have to say - I am completely blown away. In my opinion, of all the excellent articles and blog entries you wrote, this one reached me the deepest. I wanted to share with you briefly that you did reach someone out here, but in a very big way.
Here’s a quick backgrounder on me:
I am currently working on turning my part-time shareware development business (financial analysis software) into a full-time game development company, as this is where my heart is and where I find unlimited happiness. I truly enjoy making games and showing them to my friends in my spare time (ever since I was in the 5th grade) and I am now in the process of aligning everything in my life toward my goal of running a successful game company. I am 31 years old, married (no kids) and my wife thinks it is immature and a huge waste of time to have anything to do with computer games. I have told her on multiple occasions that that although my current full-time Software Engineering job is ‘OK’ (developing GPS tracking applications for commercial vehicles), it is nothing more than a mind-numbing corporate job that I use to simply pay for the house, car, and all the other ’stuff’ in our lives.
I see all the people and things in my life that attempt to block me from my goals, as I am sure you have. I just wanted to say that this article helped provide a little boost of clarity to see over, around, and through all these obstacles - to what is truly important to me.
Thank you.
January 8th, 2005 at 11:38 am
I can sympathize with Brian’s comments. Steve, I also appreciate your write-up’s, but you also have to understand that not everyone is ready to make great leaps from one thing to another and chuck everything in the process. For many it is much more of a grey area. And those who have responsiblities to take care of others, may not be able to just switch everything off and start over so quickly.
With reference of the other post of starting young, many older folks still don’t know what there “Big Dream” is, let alone how to pursue it. But they are living comfortably enough that they don’t feel an urgent need to bust loose in some big way.
Another point is that many people are not interested in making major impacts on society or the world at large, and are very comfortable just having a close family, a nice home and a car that works even if they just look at their job as just a way to earn money. And I think that is where some folks may take some exception to your comments which seem to look down on that attitude at times, although I’m sure it is not intended that way.
All that said, if you are truly miserable with what you are doing, then it is definitely better to try something else even if it may mean taking a lifestyle hit. Those of us that are lucky enough to have a fulfilling career and lifestyle just have to keep in mind that everything is not always as black and white as we’d like to think.
Greg
January 8th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
Plenty of time for comfort after you’re dead. Coffins can be really cozy.
The funny part is that when you actually do chuck the “everything,” you find that you really gave up nothing at all. You give up the comfort of standing still for the freedom and possibilities of movement, which can be uncomfortable at first, but that discomfort is quickly replaced by a much greater sense of self-trust. It becomes a moving comfort instead of a static one. You get your sense of security from who you are instead of from what you have, and that kind of security can never be threatened or taken away, so in the long run, it’s a far more “comfortable” place to be.
So again, when you give up the static form of comfort that comes from having a seemingly stable job, a house, a particular lifestyle, etc., you really give up nothing. That kind of comfort is unstable anyway. If you don’t shake it up yourself, life itself will eventually do it for you.
January 8th, 2005 at 2:10 pm
Why do so many readers comment against the notion of leaving everything behind in order to move forward? I didn’t catch that in any of Steve’s articles. Quite the opposite, material things that you have should be the resources that you can use in your own pursuit for fulfillment. Some of it you can lose in the process, but don’t give it away just for sake of giving it away.
January 8th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
I think some readers are confusing letting go of their current lifestyle and stuff with letting go of their attachment to that lifestyle and stuff. You can do the latter without necessarily having to do the former.
January 8th, 2005 at 9:34 pm
Right. It’s a matter of “If I have to, I can throw all this other stuff away if I need to to pursue my goal of fulfillment.” You often don’t have to, but you know what your priorities are–fulfillment over “stuff”.
I might have asked before; I’ll have to check–but a article or articles on finding oneself or finding one’s music, as it were, would be appreciated. I think by others, too.
Thanks for the articles, and good luck on your path.
January 9th, 2005 at 6:11 am
I really enjoyed this article. I have found it to be personally true that when I do the work that I like, the money will generally follow.
Many of the comments to this entry are related to having family responsibilities, etc. that prevent you from making a change. I think, at worst, it just modifies the rate of chanage. Steve is not saying you have to drop everything tomorrow to pursue your dream. Make a plan to change and then follow it. The plan can be as slow or fast as you want it to be. The biggest waste of your life is to hate what you are doing and have no real plan to change. When you talk to old people that are bitter, most of them don’t say “I’m glad I stayed in my safe job”. Most of them say “I wish I had taken the risk to do x”.
For God’s sake, just do it!
January 9th, 2005 at 9:26 am
Steve,
The timing of this post couldn’t come at a better time for me. I am at the brink of making a dramatic life change. After spending the past 2 years at a company I am not very happy with and the last 6 months of that working for a toxic manager I have come to the conclusion that I am going to resign. What is scary is that I don’t have another permanent position lined up. I am actively interviewing and have some promising prospects but nothing in writing.
Though, this decision doesn’t come under haste. I have been discussing this with my wife for 2 weeks. With some sacrifices we can break even under her income while I search for more work. She is a blessed angel to be so understanding. She is for me resigning because I am so miserable it is preventing us from having any kind of life. The manager I am working for is known to be toxic and highly abusive to his employees. However, he is a senior V.P. and is not going anywhere. I have gotten to the point where I am having anxiety attacks just thinking about going to work.
My plan is to go back to IT contracting and look for part time work for money. “Making money” has become a second priority in my life. I have been doing that since I graduated from college and have never been very happy. For the past year I have been consuming motivational material from the likes of Carnegie and Hill, which without those books, I know I couldn’t make this kind of change.
My goal is to be “Self Employed” how I am going to do that I don’t know. I have many talents and interests but hard to concentrate on one. I am even considering starting a Blog of my adventures. I also know somehow that from this failure I will emerge extremely successful.
I know this might seem foolish but for I need to live. I currently spend close to 12+ hours a day in a living hell.
Steve, thanks for your work
January 9th, 2005 at 9:46 am
Thanks so much for sharing that, Richard. I think you’ll find that once you remove yourself from the toxic situation, the sense of your real self will emerge once again, and you’ll be in a much more resourceful position. Then you’ll be shaking your head wondering how you ever let things get so bad. Toxic people can drain your energy so gradually that you don’t even feel it happening, but after a period of years you suddenly come to an awareness that feeling lousy every day isn’t normal — it may be common, but it isn’t normal.
You’re very fortunate to have a wife who wants you to be happy. IMO that’s what marriage is all about.
January 9th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
Thats true that nothing stays forever, nothing comes with you when you die. Only thing that comes with you is your Karma ( your good and bad deeds) and the most important of all is your spirituality. I think spirituality is the single most important thing to acquire along with trying to survive in this world. And spirituality is the the toughest to achieve. Requires Constant vigilance and awareness of your self.
January 10th, 2005 at 12:52 am
This force is actually called “Framework 2″ in the Seth-
material. It is the inner reality which is the source of our world.
January 10th, 2005 at 4:14 am
Hi,
Your recent post to the blog is great.
Thank you very much for such a great formulation of thoughts that seem to be so close to my own current state of mind.
I think it’s just the best speech I have ever heard.
It’s just plain true wisdom. Really.
> It’s that one person I’m writing for.
Yes, you can consider me this one person. I have also sent the link to your blog to some of my friends.
I tried sending a message to steve@stevepavlina.com,
but don’t know if this e-mail address works or not…
Regards,
January 10th, 2005 at 9:47 am
There are no email addresses setup for this site, but you can always send me a private message through the contact form.
January 10th, 2005 at 6:29 pm
January 13th, 2005 at 11:03 am
Steve’s post certainly rings true to me. I quit a good environmental consulting position to come back to school for a PhD. The pay’s a small fraction of what I used to make, and my definition of ‘eating out’ has suddenly become Taco Bell, but gosh, I’m enjoying every minute of it. And to think I was so nervous to do this …
January 13th, 2005 at 4:33 pm
I understand completely. About 6 months ago, I quit a job that I absolutely hated, without having another “real” job to go to. I was so miserable there were several times I had to call in sick to work, because I was too depressed to go to work.
I few months later, I heard about a job opening at a company that, for years, I had wanted to work for. I got the job, and now I enjoy what I do for a living.
January 15th, 2005 at 3:55 pm
I can’t believe I found this right now when I needed it most. What a great post Steve.
My situation: I have recently decided to turn in my 2 week notice at work on this coming Tuesday. My husband is currently unemployed after being layed off but it actively seeking a short term job to help with our income. All we are sure of though is $1000/month that my unemployment will provide. We have no savings.
I work for the State of Alaska and I simply cannot stand it any longer. Eight hours a day is way to much time to spend being miserable. My income is $57,000/year with full benefits and we’re giving that up so I can have a chance of doing what I love to do in the way I love to do it. I want to write and sell my own software and have always wanted to do so. It is too dificult to write my own software at night after having spent all day in a very toxic work environment. It is poisoning my entire life and it simply must stop immediately.
I have to confess it is a little scary to simply jump off a cliff with no visible means of support but I have done this before a couple of times and the support is always there. I know this in my heart. Your posting helped remind me of it and reinforce my resolve.
I read a quote once and I can’t remember who said it right now but…”Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aide”! It’s true.
Thanks again for the great post and all your articles. You have succeeded in helping me for one.
April 7th, 2005 at 9:29 am
Dear Steve, I happened upon this site today and read your blog. It’s comforting to know you are out there with the spirit still in you. Please keep writing. You opened up my mind again and all the giddy enthusiasm that others poke fun of is back. I don’t want to go with the song still in me either. Thanks so much.
P.S. Here’s a poem I wrote a while back that fits the theme here..
wait, this was not my intention i must have gotten lost somewhere along the way let me fall quietly to sleep and play in the aftermath of my dreams let me have peace and stay hidden from all I cannot be hold tight gentle soul speak softly and listen to the earth don’t go with your words unsaid breath deep and let out a roar love greatly dance spin your web live with fire beneath your feet fall to your knees kiss the ground embrace what calls to you there is no time no time for folly no time to question just be just be go and just be
Take care,
Mary Mary
Austin, Texas
April 12th, 2005 at 9:11 pm
[…] I was gobsmacked. It’s really good Best of luck, Paul. You’re going to do pretty well, I think. | Trackback | Per […]
June 5th, 2005 at 2:37 am
Brilliant Sentiments, good to see that there’s people who still believe in loving life out there