Nick Cave has shared his thoughts on how to “find the right path” in life for the latest entry on his Red Hand Files website.

For the 123rd instalment of his long-running question and answer fan forum, the Bad Seeds musician was asked by Lottie, a fan from Leeds: “How do I know I’m on the right path?”

• READ MORE: Nick Cave live in London: the breathtaking ‘Idiot Prayer’ is an exorcism of death, religion and romance

In response, Cave wrote: “Look around you. If there are others all moving in the same direction, and they look like you, and they move like you, and they all like the same things, and they hate the same things, and they are angry about the same things, and they are screaming about the same things, chances are you are on the wrong path.

“If you turn and veer onto a different path, even though these people who all think the same thoughts, and say the same things, and behave the same way, may look at you, and may scoff at you and may even threaten you, carry on — as uncertain and crooked as the path may be.”

Cave went on to advise Lottie to “keep moving, because though this path may not be the easiest path, or even the best path, it will be the most interesting, the most instructive, even the most enlightened path.”

He continued: “It is your path, where you get to be who you want to be, say what you want to say, and love what you want to love — your path — and you can take much comfort from that, because you may be the one who shudders, you may be the one who spins and glows, you may be the one who shines, you may even be the one who bursts into flames, but even still, there you are and all along you go — your path, your path.”

Cave marked the two-year anniversary of the Red Hand Files site in September by opening up on what he believes freedom to mean.

For last month’s entry, the singer talked about receiving hateful messages and criticism online.

“They are a form of validation, really,” he said, “as no one with a public platform and an opinion is doing his or her job effectively if they are not being attacked from time to time.”