I was recently talking with a friend about Rush.
Now, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a Rush historian, but I was fascinated by part of their story.
Back in the early days, they were simply three Canadian musicians making music they enjoyed making. Over time, they developed their own sound and stayed committed to it. Some of what they created fit nicely into the expectations of the music industry, and some of it didn’t.
When songs stretched beyond what radio stations considered practical, people questioned it. There were concerns from record executives and plenty of reasons to become more commercial. But the band kept creating the music they wanted to create, and eventually the world caught up. Their album 2112 became a turning point and secured the creative freedom they had been fighting for.
What struck me about that story is how difficult that can be in today’s world.
We live in a time where we can see what everyone else is doing all the time. We know what people are posting, promoting, launching, wearing, saying, and creating. Artificial intelligence can generate content in seconds. Trends appear and disappear overnight.
And somewhere in all of that, it becomes really easy to start questioning yourself.
I’ve certainly had those thoughts.
But I keep coming back to the idea that there is something powerful about becoming more yourself.
Because as advanced as technology becomes, I don’t think the world ever loses its appetite for authenticity. There is still something deeply attractive about people who know who they are and are willing to keep showing up that way.
Maybe that’s why the people who leave the deepest impressions aren’t always the people trying the hardest to fit in.
They’re the people who are comfortable bringing their own flavor, their own perspective, and their own personality to whatever they do.
And perhaps that pull toward individuality will never disappear because that’s how we were created.
Unique.
Distinct.
Completely ourselves.
So if there’s any encouragement in this, it is simply this:
Keep doing your thing.
Or, as some of us so affectionately say, you do you, boo.
Because the world doesn’t need another version of someone else.
It needs the version of you that only you can bring.