On Being Humble
What Drake Can Teach Us About Humility
If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace,
because you know what you are.
- Mother Teresa
This past weekend in California, the popular music festival Camp Flog Gnaw saw performances from artists of the caliber of Brockhampton, 21 Savage, and Willow Smith with great success. However, what made the headlines was a controversial performance by Drake.
The crowd was less than thrilled to see the rapper perform as they were expecting another artist to make an appearance, and proceeded to "boo" Drake off the stage. He responded by asking if the crowd wanted him to continue or not, ultimately leading to him thanking them for the opportunity to perform and walking off stage. What's most surprising about the incident was Drake's response. While many other artists might have been upset and responded with anger or resentment, Drake chose humility.
"It's been love... thank you for having me" said Drake as he threw up a peace sign and walked off stage. Further, Drake commented on the performance saying it was a "moment of humility which is always welcomed... was just not my night".
In Catherine Winter's article How To Be Truly Humble, And Why It’s Worth It she encourages us to acknowledge that nobody is perfect, but it's how we address our shortcomings that make us who we are: "Acknowledging the fact that we are flawed beings allows us room to grow". She also emphasizes the importance of accepting others for what they are, as Drake does when he speaks directly to the audience asking for their permission to perform, and accepting the situation without pride or ego.
As Winter so humbly puts it, "be kind whenever the opportunity arises, and own your mistakes with acknowledgement and sincere apology. You may end up having a surprisingly positive effect on another person’s life, and that will ripple outwards and affect everyone else in their circle."
Why Humility Is Worth It (4 mins)
Impulse Art Exhibit
Over the past few weeks, Torontonians have taken advantage of a cool new art installation that encourages art and play titled Impulse. Located at Harbourfront centre in front of the Power Plant art gallery, the installation allows users to play on Seesaws that trigger lights and sounds allowing users to create music and art at the same time. The exhibit has had overwhelming success and has been full of people at all times.
The exhibit is only on until November 12th, but if you haven't had a chance to check it out, don't worry - another installation titled Loop will be popping up at York St Park in February of 2020
Impulse is a great reminder of how important it is to find time in our busy schedules to play, and just how far a little magic can go.