When Eric Clapton's son died in a tragic and horrible accident at age four, Eric turned to writing words and music for healing. He feels that this saved him--going to that place of raw and tender emotion and writing about his loss, in what he calls "a purging experience."
He has survived separation from his mother at an early age, drug and alcohol addiction, the loss of his son, and managed to come through it all and remained sane and whole. How?
"I think it's the process of letting it go, acknowledging that I'm not the master. It ain't about what I want, it's about what I can give.
The greatest thing that I have is being awake for my life, and being able to participate, and having no more dark secrets inside which damage me."
Eric's healing is a beautiful expression of heartfulness, as mindfulness, compassion, and responsibility.
*Being mindful--awake, aware, present in one's life, actively participating in its moment to moment unfolding, rather than being mindless, forgetful, numbing oneself with drugs, alcohol, and empty pleasures.
*Accepting one's vulnerability, letting go, surrendering, accepting that one can never always master life and be in control of one's fate.
*Going into the darkness, embracing the traumas, wounds, regrets, mistakes, shortcomings, that make one fallible and imperfectly human, as these are what make you who you are.
*Gently touching these tender places inside our hearts, witnessing, and helping the hurts to find a way out through art, music, and storytelling.
*Acknowledging that ultimately life is not about what you want, but listening to what life wants from you, and heeding the calling.
*Finding a sense of purpose in your creation and what life deals you and giving what you can in gratitude to all that you have received.
For the full interview: Clapton: Music, Addiction, and Redemption