Mike Posner and Simon Sinek discuss how artists transform personal pain into beauty that connects people, versus just broadcasting feelings for attention. True alchemy means turning pain into something that makes listeners feel less alone, not chasing likes or album sales.
What's the difference between the broadcast of my feelings by myself in my room with my camera and you sitting by yourself writing down your lyrics, strumming your guitar, recording the album and putting it out there? Why is one art and designed to be a mirror to make others feel not alone in that pain, and the other seems to kind of miss the mark?
Well, it comes down to intention. Artists have this gift. We get to make, if we do our job well, something beautiful out of that pain. So our friend Adam Enki, he calls that alchemy. He says you are alchemizing pain into beauty. Because you're right, if I just sit here and I write a song from that exact viewpoint, which is not to create a human connection and fellowship, but is actually to get attention. NQ riffs on this. He said that's not alchemy, that's turning pain to pain.
The equation would be then, if you're broadcasting and the likes and the follows are the thing that alleviate the pain, you miss the point. Yes, the album sales, the downloads of your song are not the thing that relieve the pain. But the album sales and the downloads are a recognition that others may either appreciate the music superficially or feel not alone when they share your pain.
