LENNY
KRAVITZ LIVING & LOVING EVERY MOMENT INTERVIEW: MARANDA PLEASANT
MARANDA PLEASANT: I was living in Paris when your album 5 with “American Woman” came out, and every French lover I had gave me that album, so I have tons of copies still. [Laughs.] Anyway, I know everybody’s got a Lenny story. So, what is it that makes you come alive and inspires you? LENNY KRAVITZ: Life, you know, the moment. Where the magic is. That’s all. That’s where this comes from. I just live my life and try to be present. When I’m present in the moment and something comes, I can capture it, because it doesn’t come from me—it’s out there. So that’s what really keeps me motivated, alive, hungry. I’m still as excited and motivated now as I was twenty-five years ago, and that’s because I really live for those moments. And that’s where the art comes from, that’s where the music is born, that’s where it all appears. I love it. MP: How do you keep your center in the midst of chaos? Do you have any daily routine or practice? LK: Keeping grounded and keeping focused and keeping calm and thankful, that comes from God, and again, I do my best to try to keep God with me on a personal level. It’s my belief that God really wants a personal relationship with us. It’s not all just the ceremony and not the religion of doing something because you were told that’s what you have to do; it’s relationships, it’s like we have relationships with our families, with our friends, with our loved ones. There’s nothing more that we love than having a close, personal, open relationship, and I believe that’s what God wants. The way I was raised and the people that I grew up around for the most part were very humble people, and I appreciate all that they taught me, and their energy and their magnanimity help keep me grounded.
MP: What’s been one of your biggest life lessons so far? LK: To let go of the illusion that I’m in control. That’s an important one, because I tend to be a person who likes to be in control, not only of my art but of my life and things around me, and it can be healthy up to a certain point, but at the end of the day, we have to go on faith and learn to let go and ride the wave. I think, for me, my life is the most fluid when I exercise that. MP: That’s a good one. I think I’ll probably work the rest of my life on that one. What truth do you know for sure? LK: That love is the most powerful energy there is. MP: “Love is the most powerful energy there is.” I’m just going to let that one sit for a second. It’s funny when we ask people that—“love” is the only word that ever comes to mind. It’s like the one universal thing that we know, even if it’s not always the thing that we live. Are there any causes that you’re particularly passionate about? LK: Oh, so many. Let’s start with human interactions. I really believe that there is a way for us to settle disputes nonviolently, using our minds, using all of that was given to us. I’m very much about the environment, I’m very much about health, about being able to, at the very least, eat organic, whole foods that are healthy for us. And then, of course, everyone being able to eat and at least have a humane way to live. There’s enough for everybody, but unfortunately, there’s a lot of greed and a lot of ego.
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