This is my world, this is my arena
The TV told me something different I didn’t believe it
I stand here in front of you today all because of an idea
I could be who I wanted if I could see my potential
And I know that one day I’mma be him
Put the gloves on, sparring with my ego
Everyone’s greatest Escitaloden
Celebrate that achievement
Got some attachments, some baggage I’m actually working on leaving
See, I observed Escher
I love Basquiat
I watched Keith Harring
You see I study art
The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint
The greats were great cause they paint a lot
I will not be a statistic
Just let me be
No child left behind, that’s the american scheme
I make my living off of words
And do what I love for work
And got around 980 on my SATs
Take that system, what did you expect?
Generation of kids choosing love over a desk
Put those hours in and look at what you get
Nothing that you can hold, but everything that it is
Ten thousand
~ Macklemore, Ten Thousand Hours (The Heist)
Ten thousand hours. The amount of hours it takes to master a craft, Malcolm Gladwell.
Repeat eighteen times. The amount of repetitions it takes to commit something to memory, ?uestlove.
Quality of person. This is what creates a superstar, Marsha Gray.
I, by no means am a superstar, but I do dedicate tireless hours to this writing craft and repetition is what creates perfection. I admit to not being a superstar, but I do consider myself the quality of person that doesn’t need to feel validated by anyone. I don’t need to be validated by a job. It takes patience and a certain type of psychology to succeed. In that downtime, you can begin to feel unaccomplished and if you focus on feeling unaccomplished, you will be unaccomplished.
Macklemore
I took a break writing this piece to play Bingo with my four-year old niece. She loves playing, but has some difficulty finding the numbers over fifteen. I stare into her eyes, while she concentrates on the numbers. She’s looking directly at B-25 with her marker, but cannot find it for the life of her. I patiently talk her through it. The fact she doesn’t get it, but tries her damnedest with total disregard for how long it’s taking is what makes me proudest of her. This is what I mean by being the quality of person who isn’t validated by others. Her mom comes home, she prepares to go bowling and tells me we’ll play again.
What quality of person are you? I’ve heard people say that talent can’t be taught and that may very well be true. More importantly than talent, drive cannot be taught. You can have all the talent in the world, but if it’s wasted. What’s the point? I watched a Robin Thicke interview from the Hour and he made an interesting point. He says, “when I was sixteen, I recorded this album and it wasn’t that good. It was like a B – album and I didn’t want to put it out. I said ‘gimme some time, let me work on it.’ Three or four years later, I’m just sitting on the couch and I’m writing songs for everyone else who’s on TV and I realized it was fear that was holding me back and that’s not a good enough reason to not take a chance.” (The Hour)
Drive is what makes an ordinary person extraordinary. When I read ‘How to win friends and Influence people’, I learned that Henry Ford was not the most talented man in his field. He wasn’t even in the top-tier, but he used drive and vision. He surrounded himself with people smarter than himself and listened humbly to their opinions. If I could have a round table meeting with all the people I consider great, talent wouldn’t matter either. Your drive is what propels you forward in the face of adversity.
When the Toronto Sun article highlighted my passion and life mission, I was beginning to think I had changed. I am serving. Money is great and once again, I thought I had been idling in that “comfortable parking spot”. There’s this quote I like to hang in my head, “the road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spots.”(Rogers). This is a cautionary tale, perhaps I did become too lax in my approach. Maybe I lost a step or two. Who knows? My trip to Montreal shone the high beams on the direction I need to travel. You know how they say, everything happens for a reason. Now, of all the times in my life, I feel like that statement is completely warranted (more on this in the coming months). By sifting through what I don’t like, I’ve discovered the nuggets that I do.
Malcolm Gladwell
It’s been taking me a painstakingly long time to read ‘the 48 Laws of Power’ (Greene), mostly due to the fact that it reads like a text-book. I’m learning a lot about myself through the lessons presented in this book. When people inquire what it’s about, a description is difficult to articulate because it encompasses so much. I recommend this book to everyone, even if some of the principles don’t speak to you. Of particular interest for me thus far is,
Law 28: Enter action with boldness
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honours the timid. (48 Laws of Power)
and…
Law 29: Plan all the way to the end.
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead. (48 Laws of Power)
The former law speaks directly to taking the initiative and learning through trial & error. ”If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done” (Bruce Lee). Patience is a balanced virtue with a little boldness. There’s a place for both, it’s on you to decide which situation speaks to which.
I cannot predict the future and if you’re not a fortune-teller (a profession I don’t subscribe to), you can’t either. Planning for contingencies is simply that, planning. “Fail to plan, you plan to fail” (Poppa Carpe Diem). I try to plan in advance, sometimes with cloudy to no direction. That’s the boldness in me. Careful strategic planning is sometimes necessary to foresee possible pitfalls. It speaks to my chess days, try to think as many moves ahead of your opponent as possible.
The quality of person you are is directly linked to everything I’ve spoken about here, drive, compassion, boldness, foresight and talent. Use a variation of each and you’ll be fine in any endeavour you chose to follow. We were meant to be bold, well, some of us were. If my message today didn’t cover everything, here’s a pep talk from someone in the know. Enjoy. Happy Media Week.
Carpe Diem Que
Too Deep for an Intro
8 FebWell, yes, ma’am, I do… I mean, I got everything I need right here with me. I got air in my lungs, a few blank sheets of paper. I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what’s gonna happen or, who I’m gonna meet, where I’m gonna wind up. Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world having champagne with you fine people. I figure life’s a gift and I don’t intend on wasting it. You don’t know what hand you’re gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you… to make each day count.
~ Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCarpio), Titantic (1997)
We recognize the world, although now–not only because we have emerged from a dream–we look on it with new eyes. We are offered a new style that is thoroughly of this world, that celebrates the mundane. This new world of objects is still alien to the current idea of Realism. It employs various techniques that endow all things with a deeper meaning and reveal mysteries that always threaten the secure tranquility of simple and ingenuous things. This [art offers a] calm admiration of the magic of being, of the discovery that things already have their own faces, [this] means that the ground in which the most diverse ideas in the world can take root has been reconquered–albeit in new ways. For the new art it is a question of representing before our eyes, in an intuitive way, the fact, the interior figure, of the exterior world. (Franz Roh, Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism (1925).Magical Realism. Ed. L. P. Zamora and W. B. Faris. Durham: Duke UP, 1995. p. 15-32.)
I have a propensity to pull the trigger when something is presented. Decisive movements in the face of options is what luck is all about. Luck being defined as opportunity meeting preparedness. I believe a person makes their own luck. With this said, I decided to pull the trigger and move out on my own. The actions needed to execute the list was in the balance. This has been the reason for my sudden absence on the blogisphere. If last year was a year to strengthen my psyche and become more dominant within my skin. This year is the year for breaking down the walls. January, my journey went public. February, I’m out in the world (…once again!), for good this time.
I’ve been playing a tug-of-war battle in my mind with how I want to proceed with the blog. Sometimes I believe this is more preachy and relationship based than I intended. In the days since my last post, I’ve come to grips with the fact this is a lifestyle blog and more importantly than that, it’s about my lifestyle. After all, I can only speak for myself, right?
I don’t know if I wholly believe in the first quote. Waking up and planning your day by the seam of your pants is a great experience… for vacation. Planning for the future and preparing yourself thoroughly for whatever opportunity arrives must be viewed as the Right Bauer (yes, I’m an excellent euchre player). I have two friends whom I consult with on almost all my meteoric life events and the day-to-day mundane. These men are more like brothers than friends. I have been in concert with both frequently over the last two weeks. Our lives are chaotic and stapling time down for a life conference is difficult, but we do what we can. I can always count my adopted brothers to splash water on my ideas or at least temper them with a dose of the opposite side. I respect this because most people are either stewing in sour grapes or complete “yes men”. It takes a certain type of person to listen to criticize, let it marinate and devise a plan. I’ve often been credited with seeing the end, but the journey throughout is opaque with mist.
Two Roads diverged…
Between the both of them, stern lessons in the ’48 Laws of Power’ I’ve carefully mapped out how I want to attack this year. It’s a path, it may change, but the important thing is that it’s put down. If ever you question what your path for a given task will be, pen it on paper so it’s tangible and then plot accordingly.
Magical realism, I heard this term for the first time last week and it’s curious how I’ve watched many films under this subheading, but have never known the term. This term to me is the equivalent of a protagonist being yanked from the ordinary world and dropped into a new experience where they’re faced with choices. This is the exact mission I’m on. I’m dreamed about my first day in my apartment, just sitting there like “what now?”. I don’t dwell on it, but I understand one thing, things will change. In meshing with my beliefs, I believe it will change for the better. So, I attack it.
So. What now?
Well, I said I’ve made a concerted effort to not speak before something was accomplished and I’m going to continue along that path. I can say that when I move in, I will not be sitting around and basking in my independence. It’s an exciting time, yes, but not a time for lollygagging. I’m here to make waves and so should you. While most of the “resolution tourists” have long since given up on their statements (allowing me more freedom at the gym), you and I still continue to mush on. Find a path, if the end is what you envision, plot the way to make it there. Make it count, the hands of time don’t go in reverse.
Carpe Diem Que