Re-jigging your “Ziggy”.

Many writers develop a persona. This is a deliberate decision, common to songwriters especially as they have to disconnect their true selves from their stage presence. This is purely for self-preservation. However the identity that they choose to project has to relate to something significant or poignant. At first David Bowie chose “Major Tom”, the lone astronaut detached from the blue Earth below him, but he is also the archetypal loner alienated from the rest of society. This is the same society that misunderstands people who live guided by their emotions and imagination and condemns them. Then the spaceman came down from Mars to show humanity what it was missing, sparkle and stardust and voila Ziggy was born.

You can choose conformity and suppress your creativity, or you can ignore the oppression of the outside forces and change things through art. The otherworldly does not have to manifest itself through an alter ego, it can be a story or a painting. If it challenges the current view of the world then it is of real value. Everyone should have a “Ziggy” !