Diane: So Marc, you’ve taken me to some mist again and asked me to raise my vibration a tad. I’ve been thinking that Keith might be joining us soon and here he is! Introductions please Marc!
Marc: Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer! Diane was a big fan of their music when she was a girl.
Diane: Yes I was a fan in my teenage years – that’s for sure! Marc can you start with questions please.
Marc and Keith are both sitting on stools – very informal.
Marc: Well Keith, welcome to the Bolan-Beaty Boogie Show! It’s nice to have you with us.
Keith: It’s nice to be here Marc. I tended to be a very private person as Keith but thought that this talk might be an interesting change of pace.
Marc: So Keith, you passed over fairly recently right?
Keith: Yes, that’s correct. (Keith passed over in March, 2016 from a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head.)
Marc: Is there anything that you would care to say regarding that or if it’s too private, we’re cool.
Keith: Well I had been struggling on and off with depression. I had throughout my life imbibed in various substances – mostly alcohol. I guess at some point the scale finally weighed too heavily in one direction and I couldn’t see another way out.
Marc: Hey man…that is a rough situation. Since you’ve passed, have you seen the situation in a clearer light?
Keith: Yes Marc I have. Part of my depression stemmed from the physical abuse that I had put my body through for so many years and the fact that I could no longer play the piano like I used to.
Marc: So it was physical as well as psychological?
Keith: Yes that was the situation.
Marc: Okay…now can you see a different path that you could have taken?
Keith: Oh yes…there were plenty of other paths that I could have taken, but I didn’t and ended up with a bullet in my head. I admit it wasn’t my shining hour, but I couldn’t handle the depression any longer.
Marc: Okay….well maybe we should change the subject a bit here. Can you tell us why you chose to come on the show?
Keith: I think many people were stunned by my death, and I just wanted to come forward and say….it was what it was and of course, there is no turning back.
Marc: No there isn’t. So I’m assuming that like me, music was a very big part of your life? You began playing at a very early age?
Keith: Yes I did. Music was my world – other than my kids (he hesitated a bit here and he gave me the impression that he didn’t spend as much time with his family as he now feels he should have.) It was my inspiration for life, then it became the fly in the ointment when I could no longer play up to my standards.
Diane: I’ve often wondered about that. So many people seem to lose their will to continue if a talent, beauty or fame fades. From the Spirit viewpoint, can you help us out with a possible explanation for that?
Keith: Well it has to do with – at least from what I experienced – where a life weighed too heavily in one direction. I saw myself as a musician – that’s all I really knew. I loved to ride motorbikes and did a few other things, but I really knew myself as this one thing. When you associate yourself so strongly with what you do or look like, it’s hard to know who you are when that is taken away. You think..well who am I and what worth do I have now? It takes commitment and extreme dedication to be a good musician. But looking back, maybe I should have rounded out my personality more.
Marc: You mean diversified a bit?
Keith: Yeah a bit. During the 1970s, when ELP was really big (and we were REALLY big)…..
Marc: Yeah sure, I remember that…..
Keith: We had the world at our fingertips – record companies loved us because we made a lot of money for them – we had more fans than we could ever hope to have. It was the high time. But there were difficult times as well. I guess what I’m saying is…I probably didn’t enjoy the experience as much as I should have done. I loved playing the music to people more than anything, but I had some personal stuff that often got in the way of true happiness. I often felt that life was a struggle most of the time.
Marc: So the silver lining was hard for you to feel at times, is what you are saying.
Keith: Yes…at times it was. I was inside my head most of the time. There is nothing wrong with that, but it might have been helpful for me to be more open with the people whom I was close to.
Marc: Yeah…it’s interesting after you pass over as you look at the life you just left. Diane, any questions you want to ask Keith as you were a fan of his music?
Diane: Gosh, I hate to admit that my teenage years were quite a long time ago, so I’m trying to think about that time and your music. I saw you only once in concert in Chicago when someone stole one of your Hammond organs.
Keith: That was a big let down for me. I had that organ for so many years.
Diane: I think that you used to throw knives at it or something like that?
Keith: I used the knives for affect to hold down different keys. It was a bit of theatrics and self release.
Diane: I think both you and Marc did dramatic things on stage? Marc, I think I saw you whip a guitar once on video? Was it just the times when rock stars did stuff like that – setting guitars on fire etc? I’m not knowledgeable about what rock stars are doing today, but I’m sure there might still be stuff like that going on.
Marc: Yeah it’s a form of rebellion and also just theatrical showmanship. It’s the male ego of a rock star thinking he is invincible on stage. Most people respond to it. It was part of the show. So Keith, what have you been doing since you passed over?
Keith: Looking at myself….
He was showing me images of him literally looking at himself in a mirror.
Marc: How do you mean?
Keith: I had totally lost myself – at least that’s how I felt. When I passed over, I needed to reconnect to whom I was as a spirit. It took some looking and I’m still working on getting all the pieces together.
Diane: How do you go about doing that, if you don’t mind my asking?
Keith: You look deep within – something that I was too scared to do in the physical. You ask yourself questions and don’t tell yourselves lies in return. It’s therapy and it changes your perspective – and it’s the only way to go forward. You have to take the time to dig deep sometimes, otherwise you are just skimming the top of the ice and you have a shaky foundation.
Marc: But you say that you still have more work to do? I’m sure we can all say that. Have you gotten to a happier place now?
Keith: I’m getting there. I think that people may think that you lose any inhibitions or sadness in your personality when you pass over. For instance, if you were unhappy in a physical life, when you pass over, all of that will go away. I guess for some – depending on what they wanted to experience, that may be true. But for me, it was hard to shed Keith and I wanted to get to the root of why I self destructed in different ways. Why was happiness hard for me to find?
Marc: So you are still working on that?
Keith: Yes I am.
Marc: Okay…well Keith, I think it’s about time to wrap this up. We always give our guests a chance to say any last words to our readers or their fans if they want….
Keith: Yes, if you are suffering from depression, don’t let it dig itself in deep there. You may have come down there to see how you would react, but I didn’t find the benefit in it. Just take one day at a time. Get help and don’t shut out the people around you who love you. Try and get off any unneccessary drugs – build up your body to a healthy place. Depression is an indication of low vibrational energy but that doesn’t mean that you can’t improve. If even for one day, go out and pick a flower, watch the sunset, play with your child, look for something everyday that brings you positive fulfillment. Then the next day, look for more and the next….even more.
Marc: Thank you Keith. Thank is great advice for our readers from someone who experienced some difficult times.
Keith: I hope so Marc and again…don’t shut people out. I think that many people do that because they are ashamed or don’t want to face the challenge of feeling better. But if you can, it will be worth it.
Marc: Okay then…Diane and I would like to thank Keith for taking time to come and chat with us. Keith…we wish you the best in your healing and hope to run into you again soon!
Keith: Thank you Marc. I enjoyed this actually more than I was expecting. It helps – even over here – to talk about it.
Diane: Thank you Keith! Take care!
Afterwards….
Diane: Gosh Marc….I had the feeling for the past couple of days that he was around. I know Greg Lake is coming forward too but not quite yet. Remember we tried to interview him soon after he passed, but it was too early for him.
Marc: Yeah you had the connection to Keith via his music. It was time for him, he said, to talk openly about what he went through. He was hoping it might bring attention to anyone who might be in similar circumstances.
Diane: I thought that it was interesting when he said that many spirits don’t necessarily become instantly happy once they cross over.
Marc: Not necessarily. It depends on how much healing they need to do, and if they want to discover more about themselves from that particular viewpoint. It’s really an individual situation.
Diane: So let’s say you had a difficult life, but when you passed over, you decided to stop any therapy and just get on with things. Is that possible?
Marc: Well it’s possible but you will probably face some well-meaning guides who come forward to question that. You are always free to do what you want, but you might just be shooting yourself in the foot, if you don’t self examine and understand that life before moving forward.
Marc was showing me a house that had a lot of floors, but all of them were flimsy or rotten and the whole building was on top of an earthquake.
Marc: Yeah..it will probably hold you back a bit, but it’s up to you.
Diane: So I do think that Keith wanted to come and talk about the struggles he had to let people who have depression know that there might be other alternatives for them if they are thinking about suicide?
Marc: Yes, I think that was the main reason for him coming to the show.
Diane: I also thought it was interesting, that music, the art that gave me so much joy in life ended up being a source of sadness when he couldn’t play it as well later in life? Sometimes I wish that I had exceptional talent – like being able to sing or play an instrument but then those abilities often fade. I guess it’s always a good idea to be happy within and find many different activities or art that you enjoy doing. If one fades, maybe you can still enjoy a rich life.
Marc: That would be the ideal situation to find yourself – that’s for sure!
© Bolan-Beaty Boogie
March 14, 2018