Keith Richards is Ubiquitous

Showing off my vocabulary again.

It's my strong point.

Keef released a solo album on 09/18. Been 23 years since the last one. I have heard some of it and it is tasty. I don't own it yet. I don't know why.

Simultaneously, a special about his musical influences and his life began to air on Netflix on the same day. It is excellent. I will watch it 418 times in the next two weeks, 10,455 times over the course of whatever is left to my life.

He has been on every talk show recently, every magazine cover and has many interviews in said magazines.

Can't get enough.

One thing that really struck me about the special. Keith is reverential about his musical roots. He worships and deeply respects those who came before, especially the old blues masters. The Stones started out pretty much as a blues covers band. The blues are at the heart of who they are.

He talked about how he looked up to the those old blues masters and now he himself is an elder statesman in the music world. A ground breaker in his own right (my words, not his) - no one thought rock artists would still be making music in their seventies. No one thought it could be done at the level of excellence that The Stones maintain.

The man has five grandchildren, for Christ sake.

His reputation of course is larger than life. The booze, the drugs, the insanity - his fierce uniqueness and quirky way of expressing himself in clothing, lifestyle and words.

You can get all wrapped up in the myth and define him strictly on those terms.

That would be a mistake.

He is an accomplished musician and songwriter. Well respected within the world of music.

That is well worth your respect.

Ultimately I think his most impressive contribution as a human being is to live in perfect harmony with his soul. He knows exactly who he is, he lets it fly, he doesn't care what anybody else thinks and he doesn't take shit from anybody.

You don't live that way, do you? Neither do I. You know you wish you could. So do I.

The man has balls. He always has.

In 1967, at the age of 24 he was in court facing a trial for allowing people to smoke pot on his property. He told the judge to his face: "We are not old men, and we are not worried about petty morals."

Consider that within the context of that era and the outlandish reputation he already had and you realize just how fearless this man is.

I love the man. My dark side appreciates the drug and alcohol excesses, the womanizing, the insanity.

But what is at the heart of why I love him is the way he lives his life. The way he has always lived his life.

100% true to his soul. No fear, fiercely expressing his unique truth without regard for consequences or others' opinions.

That is the ultimate blueprint for making the most of a life.

A blueprint to which every single one of us should aspire.