When you put a halo on concepts - gender roles, religion, nationality or pride - or you put a halo on any topic - anything that you hold dear like the relationship between a father and son or a mother and daughter, what it means to be married or what it means to be single or what it means to be a free spirit or what it means to be an artist - if you just put a halo on something and say it's untouchable - "that is special and that is perfect" - you immediately close your eyes to the truth of it, because the truth is that nothing is perfect.
Dan ManganSometimes I just don't have time to wait for the muse to come, so I've developed things to force the muse to come back.
Dan ManganGetting out on stage and playing music for people feels great when people are cheering for you, that's obviously really exciting. But what's most exciting is the idea that we're all experiencing something that's bigger than us.
Dan ManganThere's going to be ups and downs and that you have to be okay with the downs too and embrace them just as much because they will teach you something.
Dan ManganThat is a goal, to step out on stage and to actually be present. Honestly alive and present. Although, it doesn't always happen. We're fallible, we're imperfect. That's what a lot of books are written about; that's what a lot of religions have sought after is that kind of zen mentality of just being totally neutral and open and vulnerable to all of the forces in the universe without being attached to them.
Dan Mangan