The Unforsaken Voice

Bob Dylan is, and probably will forever be, my favorite musician of all time. I’ve listened to his expansive forty+ album discography practically on an endless loop ever since I was a young teenager. Hell, I even went out of my way to learn how to play the guitar and harmonica (simultaneously with the neckstrap and everything) out of admiration for the guy. My favorite track of all time “Like a Rolling Stone”, like many of his other classics, lives rent-free in my brain (welcomely I might add) to this day.

But Dylan is right. He is not actually the voice of a generation. Nor should he be.

Because there exists a fine line between admiration… and forsaking our voice.

Now, obviously there is nothing wrong with the former. Admiration as a sentiment is actually quite good. It helps detect behaviors in others to which we ourselves would like to aspire. A poetic individual like Bob Dylan, for instance, drives fans to become more poetic themselves. Admiration inspires.

But forsaking our own voice is another matter entirely. This is when we skip over our own critical-thinking, and instead relinquish it onto someone else. And in a world in which we are increasingly barraged by nonstop dopamine-inducing content, complete with algorithms hell-bent on relevancy and appeal, I’d pessimistically venture to guess that we are actually getting quite worse at noticing this problem. We are growing disturbingly comfortable delegating our identity onto musicians, politicians, podcasters, etc., under the guise of this being an authentic identity unto ourselves. And to me, the worst part is this self-delusion. We act like we possess an assertive voice, when in fact we’re relinquishing it in the most passive way possible.

The antidote, in my opinion, is emotionally letting go of any and all public figures, so that our identities are not wrapped up in them whatsoever. Yes, continue to admire whoever you admire, but do not compromise your own personhood in the process. Rather, return to those who truly know you. Parents. Your spouse. Closest friends. Mentors. Whoever you trust. Spend more time with them. Because it’s those people who truly shaped your identity and helped you have a voice in the first place.

And if I had to choose between a coffee catch-up with an old friend and the opportunity to hang with Bob Dylan himself... I hope I'd have the discernment to know which of the two actually shaped me and, conversely, which one is better admired from afar.

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