A True Believer is someone who is so committed to their religious faith, a social cause, their work (not job), their family, or whatever it is to which they are literally "joined" in a way that goes beyond my ability to describe (though I will try throughout this article). Nothing, nothing can pursuade, stop, distract, turn or otherwise influence them to abandon that for which or to which they are quite literally a part.

A true believer doesn't care about success. A true believer doesn't care about failure. They understand that on the journey to their goal, these are a part of the reality of life in the pursuit of their efforts and their aim. A true believer doesn't think in terms of success or failure, only achieving the end - however long it may take, and by whatever means required (which in some cases involves violence, others non-violence).

A true believer can be your best asset or your worst nightmare.

You have, no doubt, heard 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. And this is part of the sifting process that reveals a true believer...or creates one.

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.

Karl Marx, the principle author of "The Communist Manifesto", was not a true believer. Yes, I know, shocking to hear. Why? Because he only wrote about it. He was unwilling to risk his very liberty and freedom to seek a way to bring it to fruition, to birth the actual society he envisioned in his writing. In other words, Marx was a fraud.

Of course, in Marx's vision of the ideal socialist system, the 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. Such a state is headed by true believers, like Lenin and Trotsky.

But Stalin, Lenin having warned his compatriots to not allow him to possess any real power, succeeded him. He was not a true believer; he was a despot and power hungry. He took advantage of his position as head of the KGB to 'liquidate' his opposition as a means to obtain the leadership of his nation.

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. And it is by the efforts of true believers that it was done, people who did not seek to change anything, but who were committed to the preservation and passing along this vital music to their children - and anyone else who would become enamoured enough to support it.

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. And only the most ardent true believers will survive the torture, beating, everything they endure, refusing to change their beliefs, even converting their persecutors in the process.

This is the very definition of a True Believer, to operate and act on their beliefs - even if in secret - in the face of oppression, persecution, arrest, torture, beating, imprisonment, and death.

Over the course of human civilization, tyrannical governments have tried to compel people and societies to conform. Some were lead by true believers, people who were committed to their philosophy or plan to the exclusion of all else. And they have all failed, during their tenure on earth, to accomplish the utter destruction of the individual and individuality. Ironically, in some cases true believers were pitted against true believers. This is happening today in places like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, any repressive regime around the world.

Is is the nature of the indomitable human spirit - the heart of the true believer - and the need to live out our beliefs that makes this so, no matter the social or political realities that surround us.

This is why the Arts flourish, Christianity flourishes, especially in repressive regimes.

It is why we strive, even in the face of death, to express and preserve 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, through adherence to our innate foundational beliefs no matter the resistance we face.

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 thought. 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, assert their true beliefs. They do it in the way they dress, the car they drive, the landscape around their house, even the way they speak, the topics that inflame their passion.

In everything we pursue, we will invariably put our mark on it, consciously or unconsciously. 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 story, article, lyric or prose; the art we buy, the music we listen to, the books we read all become expressions of our individuality and in support of our beliefs.

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), an expression of our belief.

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 us; it is a part of the very fabric, the weave, the matrix of our being. We are hard wired to be who we are, what we are. Any attempts to undo this will ultimately fail. Something of our individuality, our ultimate deepest belief, 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, more an expression of who and what you are. Just be patient and continue to learn and grow. By these efforts, your own beliefs and individuality will emerge. Trust me, I've seen it in hundreds of students, thousands of fellow believers.

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.

They bear the torch of the true believer, sharing and passing on their passion, creating new true believers in the process.

As much as our individuality is important from the creative side, it is also important to those who are not so gifted creatively, the people who listen to what we create. They express themselves 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.

True believers will always meet the needs of other true believers. It is a great circle, always expanding, always welcoming new people into the fold.

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