Ziggy Marley Gets Personal | Big Think

Ziggy Marley Gets Personal

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Following your intuition is about doing the best that you can do for yourself.

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Ziggy Marley:

Ziggy Marley is a four-time Grammy Award-winning musician, philanthropist, and founder of the independent record label, Tuff Gong Worldwide. Known for his international work with children, Ziggy is the founder of U.R.G.E. (Unlimited Resources Giving Enlightenment), a designer for the Fashion Against AIDS Campaign and a supporter of Little Kids Rock. When not on tour, he divides his time between California, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Question: What inspires you?

Ziggy Marley: Actually, that... everything for a reason in my life. I don't know what... I don't know about anyone else's life but in my life, everything for a reason. And even bad thing is for a reason, that, who knows, it might turn out to be something else. But... You know, I don't fight creativity. I don't fight against not being creative. If I'm not being creative, I'm not forcing it. I just... That's it. I'm chilling. You know I'm saying? What inspire me... I want to say is God--Jah--but I want to put it in a different way. I say it's the universe. You know, it's this thing that we don't know what it's called. Some people call it God and people have different names for it. I don't know what it... Call it whatever you want to call it, I don't know. Sometimes, I just said the universe. That's what I call it at times. And that's what inspires me, you know, the universe. So that's it. You know, I mean, my kids...

As I said before back in the days... Maybe every now and again, there is some social thing that will spark a song, you know, maybe a song about justice or a song about human rights or... Every now and again, there is something happening in the world where I write a song inspired by what's happening. But a lot of times though, I'm writing songs that have to do with love, that have to do with establishing or reestablishing our connection to the universe, our spirituality, you know, reconnecting our consciousness to the universe. It has nothing to do with physical things, our social things, our political things. It has to do with spiritual things. And that's where I find... That's where I love to write songs the most, in that place, not in the political, social thing. I like to write songs in that spiritual place. That's... That gives the best feeling, you know.

Question: What's the best advice you ever received?

Ziggy Marley: The best advice I ever receive... There's been a few. But I must say, today, the best advice I have received is one that, I would say, I received from myself because it's based upon my experiences. And the best advice I received from myself is follow your intuition, follow your mind 'cause many times I have not and I've seen where I should have. Each individual... to each is own. It's not... Sometimes, not everybody's intuition is one thing but where I am today in my life, my intuition, I should follow it. And that is the advice I get from that inner voice inside of me. You know, that speaks... There's a voice inside of me that speaks the truth. And I always listen to that voice. If I did, I wouldn't get... my knee wouldn't be injured right now. That's the lesson. That's the lesson Ziggy, listen to... That's the lesson. That's what I'm talking about. I learn something, you know.