I grew up listening to Let’s Dance, Modern Love and China Girl.  But David Bowie was much more than a musical artist.  He was an icon of reinvention and of saying what needs to be said.

In 1987, he did a concert right beside the Berlin Wall.  So that people on both sides could hear the music.  Protests erupted after the concert.  A week later Ronald Reagan told Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”  And when Bowie died earlier this week, the German Foreign Office tweeted, “Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among #Heroes. Thank you for helping to bring down the #wall.”  He wasn’t just a singer.  He was a game-changer.

In the year 2000, he was offered the knighthood by the British Monarchy.  Many would jump at the chance to receive it.  But not Bowie.  He turned it down and said, “It’s not what I spent my life working for.”  He wanted to stay true to himself.  To what he felt was important.  He didn’t judge success by what society said it was.  He defined his own success and stood his ground.

And he never stopped turning life into art.  He released his last album on his 69th birthday, just two days before he passed away.  Right until the end he was doing what he loved to do.

Can we say the same thing?  Are we doing what we love?  Take a leap of faith and follow your heart. It’s not about knowing what the destination will be.  It’s about starting the journey.  As David Bowie once said, “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”