Everything I write is based on something I've personally experienced, or things that my friends have experienced that I just find horribly entertaining.
Everything I've experienced, things that my friends have experienced and we talk about, things that are on the news - all aspects of life are in my message.
I've experienced great things, I've experienced great tragedies. I've done almost everything I could possibly ever imagine doing, but I just know that there's more.
My mother and father taught me about black excellence and dynasty. They experienced racism personally, and when something like that happens to you and not around you, you develop a different perception than someone who has never experienced racism a day in their lives.
I don't think we're necessarily drawing from that specific sort of storyline, because I think we're all just super-blessed and grateful to have a show on HBO and to be working together and employed. But we are definitely speaking to things that our friends have experienced and others in our realm have experienced, for sure.
I'm not suggesting that I have all the answers or that I have experienced everything someone else has. I'm a firm believer that everyone's life/spiritual journey is unique and personal, and I'm in no place to tell you what you have or have not experienced. However, I CAN tell you what I have experienced and learned, and I hope it is of use to someone out there.
The Christianity that saves is a thing personally grasped, personally experienced, personally felt and personally possessed.
I certainly do attempt to live according to spiritual principles. That's always the foundation of each and every day. I have experienced some things in my life that just force me to believe in some sort of power. A creative . . . creative power source; however you want to phrase it. I certainly have experienced that presence. And I have experienced what I consider the basic, what we would call love and concern.
I know that a lot of songwriters write about a break up. It's a really popular topic. I think heartbreak is the number one thing people write about. I could say that's narcissistic somehow because they want everybody to admire how pained they are. But I actually do think there's something beautiful and uplifting about knowing that you're not the only one who is experiencing or has experienced that kind of devastating loss. Everyone's experienced that.
I'm someone who's experienced impostor syndrome - as I think a lot of people have with their careers, especially when they pursue what they're passionate about, because they want to be good at it. I've experienced that as a gay man; I've experienced that as a cook, as a gallery director, as a student of psychology.
A team like Brooklyn has seen everything, they've experienced everything, they've had every atmosphere you can have in the playoffs and some of them have won championships. That's the advantage you have as an experienced team and the disadvantage you have as a young team.
I've seen a lot of miracles, and I have experienced a lot of things with Jesus, but nothing I have ever experienced in my corporate community life with other believers can compare with just me and Him in my kitchen early in the morning before the sun comes up.
I've experienced success, I've experienced failure, I've been a world champion, I've fought all over the world; I think I've experienced enough that I won't get in front of a million people and get gunshy.
My mother - it's not one of those waxing-poetic kind of things - she literally worked two or three jobs most of her life. So I personally experienced that, even though I had these great friends and associations who had unlimited amounts of money. That juxtaposition was an interesting one.
The trite answer is that everything is true but none of it happened. It is emotionally true, but the events, the plotting, the narrative, isn't true of my life, though I've experienced most of the emotions experienced by the characters in the play.
I don't think I could write about something I've never experienced or felt; all my songs are about things I've been through.
I wouldn't write about something that I haven't experienced myself.