What's The Big Idea: Alex Ebert - The Reverse-Rebellion of "Cool"
“Before you go on stage, you really can’t be riddled with social anxiety...You have to find ways to liberate yourself at least for the moment.”
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Alex Ebert is a musician, filmmaker, and activist. He founded the band Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros in 2008 and won a Golden Globe for best original score in 2014. He founded Big Sun Foundation, which specializes in facilitating Community Land Trusts. He currently CEO’s the crowd-sourced social radio app Tuners, is writing a book called 'Kingdom Cool', and resides in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In this episode we talk with Alex about giving yourself the space and permission to be yourself, which stems from the question: Which “you” is the real you?. The conversation delves into social anxiety, irony, creating art, and taking a moment to express your truest self in the moment.
Key insights Shared:
Understanding what permission “to be yourself” actually means
Balancing judgement and individual expression in our society
Understanding the roots of individualism and how it impacts our mindset
The danger of going too far on the individual expression vs appealing to the mass for success
Moments You Don’t Want to Miss:
[6:16] What does giving yourself permission “to be” mean?
[14:05] The lesson Alex got after he tossed a mic at Coachella
[20:30] Using self-expression as a weapon or shield
[27:03] What happens when you “break out of the matrix” in society
[38:00] Dealing with social anxiety as a musician
[40:15] Going too far on the individual expression
[46:41] Balancing confidence in your isolation
[49:15] Exploring individualism as choice vs expression of love in a community
[57:46] Being (potentially) fake and famous vs. true and (potentially) unpopular as a creator
[1:02;00] Finding joy and the Grateful Dead experience
Thoughtful Quotes:
“Before you go on stage, you really can’t be riddled with social anxiety...You have to find ways to liberate yourself at least for the moment.”
“In a primal sense, when someone creates differentiation..that disturbs the entire survival of the group itself.”
“My version of individualism is a release of social anxiety…..”
“Optimism is courageous and pessimism is not.”
“I think the pinnacle of courage is trust.”
“The more slick something is...the less...individualistic it is.”
“Mastery of permission is an ongoing conversation…”