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We know he’s a god of the guitar and we know he’s played several sold-out concerts in Thailand. What you might not know is Carlos Santana is wise beyond his years.
From Woodstock in 1969 to his current Santana Luminosity Tour 2016, Carlos Santana has achieved a lot. We could learn a lot from him, and not just his beautiful lyrics. Here are 8 insightful Carlos quotes from interviews and stories over the years, that inspire us to reach for our dreams and achieve our goals. (Like becoming a world famous superstar, because that’s possible right?)
1. “Your wrinkles either show that you’re nasty, cranky, and senile, or that you’re always smiling.”
On a literal level this is why the wrinkle cream market is a bazillion dollar industry. But let’s go a little deeper. Life is what you make it, and oftentimes the outcome a situation depends on how you interpret and react to it.
2. “Who you are going to be decides what you’re going to do, and what you’re going to do decides who you’re going to be.”
Say what now? Ok, this means that everything is interconnected and you can’t separate who you are from what you do, right? But does that mean if you’re an Assistant Marketing Manager that is WHO YOU ARE and all you’ll ever be?! No, silly! It means that the decisions you make, and how you live your life all add up to equal who you are as a person. Whoa, deep.
3. “My dad’s a beautiful man, but like a lot of Mexican men, or men in general, a lot of men have a problem with the balance of masculinity and femininity – intuition and compassion and tenderness – and get overboard with the macho thing. It took him a while to become more, I would say, conscious, evolved.”
Men, take note: girls like macho dudes. Yeah, true. But it takes a truly macho dude to get in touch with his feminine side. And a little vulnerability can go a long way.
4. “The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”
Wise words from a guy who lived through the swinging sixties. Maybe those hippies were on to something. An open heart gives you the opportunity to experience, feel and love to the fullest – the most important aspects of life. And being an instrument of peace gives you more power to change people’s hearts and minds than anything else ever could.
5. “The mind is a creature of labeling and encapsulating and fitting things into categories. But I was hearing music that was begging the soul to tell the mind to shut the hell up, turn up the volume, and not worry about what to call anything.”
We naturally want to measure and categorize everything according to what we already know. It’s how we learn. But sometimes, to create something truly unique and push the boundaries of what we know, it’s important to forget everything we know. Sometimes you just gotta let your soul come alive, baby.
6. “I think of music as a menu. I can’t eat the same thing every day.”
We understand you Carlos. Sometimes you want a Big Mac, sometimes you want kuay tiew tom yum. Most days you just want krapow gai with a kai dao. Wait, what were we talking about?
7. “You can take things that Jimi Hendrix took, from Curtis Mayfield or from Buddy Guy for example, because we are all children of everything, even Picasso. But if you want to stand out, you have to learn to crystallize your existence and create your own fingerprints.”
It’s natural to be inspired by other people and their work, but to really be noticed you have to distill your own unique experience (because it is unique, after all) into something memorable. What do you stand for? What legacy do you want to leave behind?
8. “Peace has never come from dropping bombs. Real peace comes from enlightenment and educating people to behave more in a divine manner.”
Amen, Carlos. We think we can all agree that violence is never the answer. Can’t we all just get along?
Inspired to pick up a guitar and become the next rock superstar? Or merely inspired to see this amazing man live in concert? Catch Carlos Santana live in Bangkok on February 29, 2016 at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani.Tickets prices range from 2,000-5,000 THB. Click on over to Thai Ticket Major to score your tickets or call 02-262-3838. Keep up with BEC Tero on their Facebook page.
