“A good roadie knows that it is his job to make someone else look good, keep someone else safe, help someone else do what they were put here to do. A good roadie stays out of the spotlight, if he is doing his job right, you do not even know he was there. Once in a while, they might step on stage to fix a problem, to set something right, but then before you realise why he was there, or what he did, he is gone.” — Eddie Riggs, Brütal Legend.

I am surrounded by top-notch roadies: my Friends, and they are exceptional. It is not about me: it is about them. They rock. Ok, it might be a bit about me: they inspire me. They have become my entourage, the one that supports, cheer on my ideas, pick me up from my false steps and ground my thoughts back to reality when they (and I) slip. There are other roadies in my Life, personal and professional: the ones I randomly meet, the ones I get to work with and the ones I have yet to know.

Whenever I choose to spend time listening to the sounds of opportunities, I get that kick in my heart. Most of the time, my eyes play blind with me, and my sixth sense takes over. That is when (almost) nothing else around matters and the grind turns sleek and smooth. My roadies can be here or there, living in a different time zone: that is just a detail, and it keeps working perfectly like that. We are here, or there, for each other, and we simply make it count.

Lately, I have been reminded to never give up (clearly not a newsflash) regardless of the scenario others may have put in my way. I keep moving, I keep living and I keep at it. Feeling down for some apparently-justified reasons, I got to run into new faces, new stories, and uplifting ideas, just by looking at Life from a different angle, like how Rossy de Palma sees the therapeutic value of wearing Louboutin shoes, with the bonus that it does not hurt.

Does that sound somewhat hair-pulling? I might give you that, yes, it can feel this way. No drug intake, just an optimistic belief that anything is possible, especially when one gets the support from a reliable, and often unexpected, entourage. It has nothing to do with religion, it is not about despair either, rather about a reckless seriousness and belief one can reach anything, and find traces of a good luck academy. The only logistics I can think of here revolves around the friends, foes and other ghosts who touch and influence one’s decisions and, unintentionally, sharpen one’s Life. And repeat.

Roadies are everywhere: keep your senses open, and believe what you aim for is not only reachable, it can be surpassed. Whether it is riding down the 56 km of descent of Olleros, Peru or walking all day in classy high-heel sandals… You will be a roadie in no time.