I occasionally play works by contemporary composers and for two reasons. First to discourage the composer from writing any more and secondly to remind myself how much I appreciate Beethoven.
At 50, I began to know who I was. It was like waking up to myself.
'The Lion' all began with a picture of a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself, 'Let's try to make a story about it.'
The first thing which I can record concerning myself is, that I was born. These are wonderful words. This life, to which neither time nor eternity can bring diminution - this everlasting living soul, began. My mind loses itself in these depths.
I think there's more women that watch me than men, but I don't look at myself as just a minister to women. My ministry began that way, but I really feel like the Word of God is for everybody.
Why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.
I was very unsure of myself when I was young and an ugly little beggar with protruding teeth, so I used to lie on them at night to try to straighten them.
As a teenager, in my songbook, I used to script what my lighting would be like. I used to dance in my roo;, it was like putting myself in a trance, and making myself feel good about things, almost like a private ceremony of begging people to like you.
I would type in things like, 'How to play beginner songs on guitar,' and one of the first I learnt was 'Hey, Soul Sister' by Train. I taught myself these chords I didn't know the name of and slowly started to get the hang. I was obsessed with it.
I set myself challenges every time I work. Ideally, I approach everything as though it's the first time - with a beginner's mind and an amateur's love.
The UK has no input in Afrobeat. Let me make myself very clear. The UK has no influence in the creation or naming or anything that has to do with Afrobeat' roots or beginnings.
Growing up, my mom was very strict about how I dressed and how I behaved, and I said to myself that I wasn't going to be like that. But now I know I'm going to be exactly like my mom. I'm going to be worse!
Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself.
Growing up, I wish I hadn't tried so hard to fit in. I'd tell myself to just embrace what you were born with because it's beautiful and you were made like that for a reason. It's tough being a girl. I think we need all of the support we can get.
Back in the day, what motivated me was overcoming myself. Now I believe in being a leader. I've done it all - I'm good. Now, it's about setting an example for others to follow. I can't just talk it - I have to live it.
The '80s were about trying to establish myself as an actor with a career. And being a teenager enjoying the fruits of being successful with lots of what I think is appropriate for that age.
I found being a teenager quite difficult, actually. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and now, looking back at it, I really wish that I had relaxed and just enjoyed it more.
My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think or of my opinions.
I gave myself permission to feel and experience all of my emotions. In order to do that, I had to stop being afraid to feel. In order to do that, I taught myself to believe that no matter what I felt or what happened when I felt it, I would be okay.
It would be too frightening for me to consider myself a role model. But I like the idea of not being afraid of letting your imagination rule you, to feel the freedom of expression, to let creativity be your overwhelming drive rather than other things.
