If Henry Rollins Was My Teacher

photo by Cleveland Scene

Listening to Henry Rollins talk is like learning how to live life at full speed while seeing it in slow motion.

He makes me feel empowered by my own life in a way as simple as breathing. The same way that helps me recognize the box and see through these falsified mentalities we sometimes get tripped-up on. The ones that we were involuntarily programmed with after being born.

I recently stumbled upon a feature he had on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Episode #906.

This conversation struck a chord with me. 

Something about the way he talks and explains his thought process. The way he is so openly himself, not giving a damn what anyone thinks of it. 

It was authentic. Real. Worldly understood.

I could feel his passion for learning through experience and reflection, just by the way he spoke about whatever he was prompted with.

That's a quality I respect in a person. I try to apply the mindset to myself and my life's varying circumstances. It helps me to see the cage around me. The same invisible chains of endless debt that we all share, the financial box keeping us tied to the allegory.

Henry has this intellectual ability to state things exactly as they are. And I admire that. I can learn from that.

For me, Mr. Rollins’ lessons began when I discovered Black Flag in high school, then already disbanded and on their separate paths. I followed Rollins loosely, along his music, film, and activist progressions.

He taught me much through all of it. (I thank you, Henry, if you ever stumble upon this.)

Between student loans, mortgage on a NJ property, and typical American life expenses (groceries, clothing, health care, cell phone, car payments, etc.), my cage feels as if it’s always shrinking. 

This seems negative. But there’s a positive side too (if we choose to see it): the cage mentality, probably intentionally designed, can be opened when confronted with this receptivity towards continued growth.

I know I’m not alone in this sentiment, as Rollins has made clear. 

Listening to Rollins helps remind me not to complain about these things, rather to embrace them head-on. Parts of the world don’t even have access to the things that we’re forced to pay money for.

It got me thinking about life and all the invisible chains that everyone needs to deal with. And finances are only one among many. They're the ones I certainly need to deal with, being a teacher in NJ. But they’re mine directly. 

Everyone has their own cage.

Humans have this innate ability to lock themselves down in mental limitations. It could be indoctrination or it could be evolution. I have no answer for that. All I know is we do it to ourselves - even if we’re aware of it. 

Rollins taught me to question the status quo in this way. To recognize the id and the ego in myself and others. (Not necessarily call them out, but to acknowledge their existence.) To see people’s cages.

Some people quest for power. Others quest for vices. Others are bound by the chains of depression or sickness. 

And it takes a certain kind of intelligence to see that. The kind of intellectualism that is capable of setting bias aside, even if you have little power to control it. The Henry Rollins kind of intelligence; which, I think, we all have the ability to develop.

He’s inspiring in that he isn’t afraid to live life according to his own terms. He has this way about him - something so very punk rock at its roots, and yet so intellectual in the way his perceptions allow him to be so fluid through life.

When I think about his humble beginnings with Black Flag and Ian MacKaye of Fugazi / Minor Threat, then his evolution into a human rights activist, I realize we all have that spark of greatness within us. 

He’s a smart human being who doesn’t take shit from anyone. That helps me see the cage we put around ourselves, the one we sometimes use as a crutch.

I realize why this might be part of the reason he’s not super famous. He doesn’t want to be. He wants to help teach others to think critically and logically about their realities. He’s a mentor without all the BS. 

And that inspires me in being a teacher. Being a writer. A coach, a son, a husband. It illuminates the greater world for what is and isn't, making it easier for me to understand our need to search and discover and learn. 

We are all capable of greatness and continued growth. Rollins taught me that before I was old enough to express it.

So I can only imagine what else I'd learn if Henry was my teacher.