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The Shoes Of Others
By joseexist in Musings On Muses
September 4, 2011

The act of putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes can be an inspirational endeavor. On one level you might flatter that person. On another level you might gather a unique epiphany. The diligence you employ may, or may not pay off in the form of you identifying with that person but wisdom from any such source is almost always a good and useable thing.

Not everyone can transpose their train of thoughts in that manner. There are also those who deny they have the ability but are more than capable. It is an astute exercise in imaginative prowess. The reality is that no matter how successful you are at it, it is still just your synapses across which your chemical messages are passing.

The method actor can go so far into character that their own life becomes a reflection of actions they are emulating. They can fall by the wayside and suffer being stuck into the role long after the director says “cut” or the final curtain falls. On the other end of things that sadness you feel whenever you see starving children on the news, if you allow yourself to feel such things, is you ‘identifying’ with another human being. That’s you putting yourself in their shoes. Such actions are among the truest testaments to the human condition.

One step back from the ‘shoes’ of others and we easily step into the things we love. We latch on at some point in our lives and hold fast, sometimes for the rest of our lives. It does not matter if the things we love are a small parade or a pantheon, all those things radiate connections to many other things related or not. Inspiration comes from the smallest, most unlikely sources just as readily as it does from the largest and most familiar.

Whenever I write a song I do so in a deeply intimate place in my heart and mind. The inspiration can come from anywhere though. I’ve never given too much thought to how a listener might react to a specific tune as I was creating it. Only after all the tracks are recorded, mixed, and mastered do I find myself finally taking the time to do that. I feel the need to put myself into as infinite an array of different shoes as possible. It is always the case that the song itself dictates what shoes I must try on. Even so, I always end up trying on far more than I really need to.

Putting yourself into others’ shoes easily opens a plethora of possibilities. You might get it anywhere from dead-on-right to totally-off-the-mark. The trick is to run the scenarios repeatedly until you have exhausted as many imaginative possibilities as you feel comfortable with, or not. Remember, this is still only your synaptic functions. True proof will only come closer when you witness the reactions of others to anything you have created. Those situations may be few and far between but they are priceless no matter what happens.