I don't think that I can properly explain the impact this book has had on my life. The philosophy of Ms. Rand is extremely thought provoking. Though I refuse to accept any person's philosophy as all encompassing, I will admit that it has changed the way I look at the creative process and Socialism. The main thing I gathered from it in regards to my creative process was the direction that I was coming from. Before reading this book, I had the whole world sitting on my shoulders watching my every move. I thought, what will the world think of this song? Will they like this lyric? What about the message, will they understand what I am trying to say? But after this book, I realized that in order for me to perform to the best of my ability, in order for me to produce something that I can be proud of, the only person that I need to ask, is myself. I never danced for anyone else. I only danced for myself. Now, I only play and write music for myself. But the beautiful thing is that it keeps me safe. If people don't like my music, than that is fine because I didn't write it for them, I wrote it for me. But if they do like it or even love it, it will mean that much more because they love what I love and what I have created with only a single audience in mind. And that is extremely special.
If you are a creative person and have felt stunted recently in your creativity, give this book a read and see how it changes your mind.
