The untold lessons you might want to learn from Erik Satie

Erik Satie (1866–1925) was an eccentric but important French composer. His works and his attitude toward music anticipated the development of the next generation of composers.

Talking about his life, there are many facts, or we can say stories, that tell us many different perspectives of life. I personally have three major lessons from how he managed to succeed in a very uncertain era.

1. As it says in the beginning, he is eccentric. He is quite different compared to the other composer, and even he doesn’t want to state that he is a composer because many people do it. He says that he is a “phonometrographer.”

Being different is not a Gen Z thing. It was already there a long, long time ago. Your authenticity is not something that you should hide from others. Don’t try to get accepted by others by trying to be someone else. Life is about being your true self without making others offended.

It is okay to be “unusual.” You only live once. Why follow the rules created by other people’s minds? (exceptional if we talk about religion, okay?) I live in an environment where almost everyone in my family member is conservative and close-minded in some aspects. But, I always try to manage to make them understand the things that I believe without forcing them to believe them as well.

Don’t say that they are so naive, and they just believe things that are different than what you believe. The way you respect people might look different than the way I respect people; we should normalize that.

You need to hear Gymnopédies by Satie and just try to read the lyrics on the internet. Try to understand the meaning behind it, you might find it uncertain and looks a bit weird, but that is okay as long as there are parts of the instrumental that is pleasing to hear. That goes the same with what you have in life.

2. This is the second major lesson I learn from Erik Satie.

Some of you might know that I was hospitalized at the end of 2021, and indeed it was a tough time for me.

It takes a few months (which I am surprised that it is only taking that amount of time) to recover and think straight about what I should do about my life.

Well, Satie once composed a piece to be repeated 840 times in immediate succession. So, how many times, how long, how far, how big? It doesn’t matter as long as you find the real you.

Lately, I think I feel like I am having my best moments with all of the ups and downs in my life. It is not perfect, but at least that is the thing that comes out from a very deep reflection and repeated learning moments in my life.

In the past two months of the second half of my 2022, I feel like I am living in a playground with Enfantillages pittoresques playing as background music.

I feel like, even tho it is hard sometimes. Even tho I regret, cry, and some shit happens in a very disruptive way, that is really okay. It is just life. Sometimes we learn, and sometimes we learn. Like a kid.

3. Before you go through this writing, I suggest you play an all-time favorite from Satie, Je Te Veux, and some of you might find it familiar because many places play it often.

I sometimes fall in love with people who don’t love me back, and that is okay.

This is the 3rd major lesson I learn from Erik Satie.

I have no regrets. And I have only one desire

Beside you there so close. To live all my life

May my heart be yours. May your lips be mine

May your body be mine. And may all my flesh be yours.

A glimpse of what Satie wrote in Je Te Veux, which I kind of feel related.

I personally believe that the most challenging and enjoyable experience when you love someone that you can’t have is the image you created during the times you wish they become yours. That is why I always say that I am always admiring those people who can stay in love with someone who does not love them back. Because I think the experience is really powerful, and yet it is so pure.

So, what I want to say by talking about this matter is…

It is okay to love someone who does not love you back, and love is not only limited to becoming yours and mine. It is about how many feelings you give and sacrifice within the experience. You do not need to force anything, and you just need to embrace without having no regret, even tho sometimes it is not get paid back.

Talking is easy, lol. I know that, in reality, we are just human who needs justification and validation for the feeling we have.

So that are three things I actually learned from Erik Satie, who did inspire me through his music and everything he created. I hope there are no offensive statements or any false direction I gave regarding this matter ❤

Thank you!