Everybody wants to be loved. And everybody wants to be a part of something. Yet, we all want to have our own identity as well. It is this dichotomy that exists within each and every one of us throughout our lives.

You've no doubt heard the phrase, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." It speaks to our nature, that we tend to fall into one of the three categories alluded to in the statement. We are leaders, followers, or bystanders. Each occupies a unique position in the hierarchy of the human condition. But, the simple reality is that while we may indeed be labeled as belonging to one or another of these designations, it is not necessarily scripted that we must remain in any single capacity for our whole lives.

In point of fact there are many stories about people who were meek in their normal life, whether followers or bystanders but, through circumstances thrust upon them, had to make a choice to step out of their meekness and respond to the situation in which they now found themselves. Natural disasters will often draw people to risk their own lives for the sake of saving another. You hear story after story about people throwing aside their own needs, their own safety, in order to help save the life of a complete stranger.

Then, once the crisis has passed, these 'heroes' return to their anonymous lives and carry on. While they may have been changed by their experience - who wouldn't be - the need to return to their 'normal' life remained, even refusing to occupy the spot light, to embrace offers of leadership or prominence.

It is also possible that the community may turn to these people, seeing that they are the 'true' leaders, people who are not trying to control or dictate, but who understand that real leadership is not about telling people what to do. In these circumstances, the formerly meek person may rise to the challenge, the invitation, and become a worthwhile pillar of the community, acting as a unifying element to the people and their lives. They learned through the crisis that there is strength within themselves they may not have recognized previously, strength the community desires. So they enter the public arena, and in the process change their status in society.

Likewise, there are stories of people who have occupied positions of leadership and have been shining examples to their community, but who become paralyzed by fear in the face of danger or the need of a leader to take charge in a crisis situation. It isn't that they are bad leaders, it is that their comfort in leading others was defined by the controlled nature of their environment. Now thrust into unknown and unpredictable, even dangerous, circumstances, they cannot cope with lightening speed evaluation and split second decision making that such situations demand. They don't perform well under this kind of pressure.

Once the crisis is passed, they may indeed regain composure and continue being an effective leader in predictable environments. The experience can also have a profound effect on some leaders, now faced with the fact that when it really mattered, they froze up and failed to provide the unifying confidence needed in the critical moments of a disaster. They may no longer be able to deal with any leadership responsibilities, even during calm and predictable times. So they, too, change their status in society.

That is the nature of our being, our individuality. We can change our disposition, our "stripes" if you will. We don't need to become or remain anything we do not wish to be. Sometimes it will be by choice, deliberate or by lack of action, other times it will be by circumstance.

In the twentieth century, communism and socialism swept across Russia, parts of Western Europe and China. The basic premise of the socialist doctrine is that all people are equal, there should be no 'stand out' individual. In fact, individuality was discouraged, except where it served the greater 'good' of the communist ideal, the propaganda machine.

Of course, this also means that in many cases State would control what you do, what career you will have, based on their criteria, their testing, their requirements. The more control the State has over the affairs of their citizens, the more license they will exercise to dictate to the people, in the name of the People, what their vision of life should be, and work toward that end, regardless of your personal opinion - especially if it conflicts with their vision.

And, as History has demonstrated time and again, the human spirit refuses such coddling and control. If it is not outward rebellion against such tyranny, it is often in very small ways that don't draw the attention of the State. How many stories from Russians I have heard and read, about the individual quiet rebellion that manifested within the people. Sometimes it was done in secret because it was forbidden to believe, to do, or to own a thing.

I recall stories about Russians loving the Beatles, having heard their music on illegal radio sets. They would listen to radio stations in the West (Europe) and hear this music and fall in love with it. Those who were musicians would, of course, learn to play the songs. In secret performances they would play to their clandestinely gathered audiences, spreading the 'gospel' of Western Rock & Roll.

Russian artists would be contracted to build retaining walls and other utilitarian structures. The contractors, in one case I saw, knew the artist personally and allowed them to add 'features' to a courtyard wall, basically turning the wall into a work of art - all under the watchful eye of the culture police.

In Cuba, a vibrant musical culture arose during Fidel Castro's dominance, one that caught the attention of the whole world. Ironically, Castro did not squelch the music community if they stayed out of the socio-political arena. Cuban refugees would come into the United States, some of whom were musicians, and bring this music, nurtured in isolation, with them. It changed everything in the Latin music quarters.

The simple fact is, even in these countries the people, while living under great oppression, have continually sought ways to preserve and express their individuality, quietly, privately in most cases, and continually - all the while knowing they could be arrested, beaten, tried, convicted and thrown into jail for years - even executed - because of their innate individuality, the greatest enemy of all tyrants.

Over the course of human civilization, tyrannical governments have tried to compel people and societies to conform. And they have all failed, during their tenure on earth, to accomplish the utter destruction of the individual and individuality.

Is is the nature of the indomitable human spirit - and need to express our individuality that makes this so, no matter the social or political realities that surround us.

This is why the Arts flourish, even in repressive regimes.

It is why we strive, even in the face of death, to express what we feel, what we believe, what we want to see, hear, touch and say. And we will never cease.

This is the very essence of philosophy, to find meaning in our human condition through examination and expression.

As musicians, we cannot go through a day without giving life to some kind of musical expression. It doesn't even have to be an original though. The mere fact that we hum a familiar tune, sing a well worn refrain, bang out a comfortable chord progression or let rip a favourite lead lick, proves how tied to our personal expression we really are.

Even people who are not creative will find a way to express their individual notions. They do it in the way they dress, the car they drive, the landscape around their house, even the way they speak.

In everything we pursue, we will invariably put our mark on it. It will be in the way we approach the task, the way we execute the musical passage, the way we write things down, the choice of words we employ in creating the lyric or prose; the art we buy, the music we listen to, the books we read all become expressions of our individuality.

The instruments we choose, the drums we pick, the keyboard we play - even down to our favourite patches, the melody we write, the harmony we include, all these things combine to become our personal signature on the work we perform (original or otherwise).

You can try to repress it, you can deny it, you can do whatever you think is necessary to destroy it. But you will fail. Thanks be to God, you will fail. Why? Because it is built into you; it is a part of the very fabric, the weave, the matrix of your being. You are hard wired to be who you are, what you are. Any attempts to undo this will ultimately fail. Something of your individuality will always remain, and find expression. If it is still available, try to find a copy of the album that is nothing but different bands covering one song: "Louie Louie". It makes the point brilliantly.

You don't need to 'try' to create an original sound. You already have one. It may be similar to someone else - for now - but over time it will become more unique.

As we grow, we learn by copying, by emulating what others have done. We do this to learn the concepts and ideas, the way things are done. We rightly call these our influences. Everyone is influenced by something and someone, most probably many somethings and many someones. Inevitably, we will seek to add our own ideas, our own approach to the mix, to the collective whole. It is what separates Bach from Mozart, Strauss from Mahler, Stevie Ray Vaughn from B.B. King, Eric Clapton from Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Page from Bert Jansch.

And it is what separates you from me.

Yet, now we return to that quality of humanity that also cannot be denied, the need to be loved and to be a part of something.

Without sharing our craft, our gifts, with others, these creations are just so much wasted effort. I know people who play for personal enjoyment. Some of these same people do write music, but it is a very low output in terms of volume. They play their songs for friends, some at church, others on the occasional Jam Night at a local pub. These don't really have much expectation of making an impact in the big picture. But they are sharing their songs, they are impacting the lives of those around them, even if they don't see it.

You may not see a viable future in your musical pursuits. But maybe you write a lot of songs. Perhaps you should record them and put them out there for others to enjoy. It would be a shame to let your creations remain hidden. It is even possible someone of note could hear one of your songs, and want to include it on their own album, or a record they are producing. That would be grand, right?

As much as our individuality is important from the creative side, it is also important to those who are not so gifted, the people who listen to what we create. They express their individuality in the choices they make, the art they buy, the music they listen to, the clothes they wear.

This is where our need to be loved, to be included, arises. Without each other, both Artist and Art lovers, everybody loses, I mean everybody. It is symbiotic, this relationship between the producers and the lovers of Art. We need each other, we need each other to complete the cycle, the circle, the circuit, to make our lives whole.

I can't imagine my life without Art, without music, without laughter, without suffering, without all the things life contains. Remove any one component of this life and you destroy every other part. And while we are hard-wired to be who and what we are, our influences - and influence - allows for change, change that does not limit us to be only one thing in life.

It is this need, this expression desiring to burst forth within us all that makes yours the most interesting life on earth.