I’m not ashamed to say that this book made me laugh out loud a few nights while reading it in bed, and also cry as I finished it at my desk. It is a beautifully written story of hard work, depression, and familial reconciliation. His is a story of an emotionally absent father, decades of struggle financially, and even at the height of his career felt the loneliest he ever was.
I was left with a great deal of inspiration after reading this. The turning point in Steve’s career was when Steve finally ‘felt funny.’ He no longer needed validity from the audience, and it gave him a sense of confidence only possible from YEARS of searching for himself. The resulting authenticity took him from performing small venues to stadiums and eventually to the big screen.
Inspiration. A powerful part of building success in any area of life. As Tony Robbins says, “What people CAN do is very different from what they WILL do.” I believe one of those deciding factors is the inspiration to change. Reading biographies like this are inspiring to me, and I encourage anyone to join me. What’s your inspiration?
My Favorite Quotes:
“Despite a lack of natural ability, I did have one element necessary to all early creativity: naivete, that fabulous quality that keeps you from knowing just how unsuited you are for what you are about to do.”
“through the years, I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration.”
“…and I exited the stage and felt something rare for me: rage. In the wings, I began swearing to myself. I ripped off my coat and threw it against a wall. my fury was that over the last few years, I had lost contact with what I was doing, and I was suffering an artistic crisis that I didn’t know I had a capacity for.”