PROJECT CARPE DIEM

Phoenix

When there’s a burning in your heart
An endless fury in your heart
Build it bigger than the sun
Let it grow
Let it grow
And there’s a burning in your heart
Don’t be alarmed
(This… Fire… Grows… High…)

~ Death Cab for Cutie, You are a Tourist (Codes and Keys)

I’m a peacock, you gotta let me fly. Mark Wahlberg delivers his line convincingly with the timing of a comedic veteran. I can’t say that I’m a peacock, but I definitely would equate myself to the Phoenix. Rising from the ashes of any situation to fly with a radiance brighter than the sun. Speaking of the Sun, today is a pretty monumental day. A young woman did a piece about the Project last year and it was published today in the Toronto Sun. I’m proud of her, it’s more difficult to get published than for me to just…write and live. Honoured would be an understatement, I haven’t been in the newspaper since being heralded the ‘Carrier of the week’. Congrats to you, Ms. Ferrier.

Last week was our second guy’s weekend. A trip with all the server boys to Montreal. I love these mini escapes, as I said before, I’m a Phoenix and flying away for a while is healthy for my psyche. It’s always enjoyable to get to know your friends better and the gentleman that accompanied me are all top shelf. We ate like kings and conversed over beers. I had a great time. These trips, like film and music help me to clear the cobwebs. My monocle is as spotless as crystal, I remember my sole focus and how to attain it.

In everything life related, we may not have all the answers, but finding out what we don’t like is what makes us understand a bit more about ourselves. Montreal enlightened me to things “…I don’t like” (Pusha T voice). It can be listed in three.

1. I don’t enjoy the casino, win or lose. This is a big revelation since I used to almost live there just over two years ago. My buyer’s remorse outweighs the lust for the almighty dollar. I just see Gail Vaz-Oxlade holding a piggy bank and the theme from ‘Til Debt Do Us Part’ playing on repeat. For all the things Oprah says (most of which doesn’t hold any credence to me), I remember this the most “…if you don’t love something, don’t buy it.” I live and die by that quote, helps me from making frivolous purchases.

2. The “ballet” does nothing for me. To protect the innocent, the term ballet is an obvious cover up for another word. Without going into too much detail, the allure and enjoyment of a woman is the lead up for the eventual payoff. When the payoff is just there, it bores me tirelessly. I shall never again set foot into the ballet.

3. Life is too short. I feel like this topic has been tread on consistently, but I could do without all the negativity. A negative person is like a tortured animal who’s been struck by a vehicle on. Will someone please put it out of its misery?

Those aspects aside, I feel refreshed and ready for another run at a goal of mine. Next step is the race to March.

And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born
Then, it’s time to go
And you find your destination with so many different places to call home

~ Death Cab for Cutie, You are a Tourist (Codes and Keys)

I wasn’t born here, but my love affair with this region has come to its inevitable conclusion. I said that 2013 held big things, lots of moving parts in the works and a bright new day with a face to call my own on the horizon. I’m pushing forward to my 31st birthday with the velocity of a Mustang at Woodbine. I’m a sure bet, place your wagers down.

Carpe Diem Que

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Categories Philosophy

Be the Brand

15 Jan

“Brand names mean something, Nicky. Consumers rely on them to know what they’re getting. They know the company isn’t going to try to fool them with an inferior product. They buy a Ford, they know they’re gonna get a Ford. Not a fuckin’ Datsun. Blue Magic that’s a brand name; Like Pepsi, that’s a brand name. I stand behind it, I guarantee it. They know that even if they don’t know me any more than they know the chairman of General Mills.”

~ Denzel Washington, American Gangster

I had a conversation with an author, who just completed his second book. We spoke for about ten minutes about film, writing and branding. He threw out some interesting tidbits of information. The most vital of which, I based this diatribe.

“Know your audience, that’s very important.”

“Strive to be a best selling author, not the best author”

“Build your brand, that is the most important task for an author. The rest will fall into place”

I’m paraphrasing each quote because I was practically a zombie when we had our discussion. The building of your brand is interesting to me. This is the cornerstone to all business in my opinion and ironically, it’s the most difficult. I have picked up short yardage, but cannot seem to break the Arian Foster type run for the end zone.

Part of the problem is that I don’t have anything tangible to impart other than wisdom. I scrutinized by own branding, social currency, influences and decided what I want to be.

Since that time, I’ve done a number of different things, but I haven’t fully got the wheels moving. While on a dinner date with some friends, two women who subscribe to this project described this as a relationship blog. That was interesting to me since I don’t look at it like that. I have wrestled with the idea of doing another blog solely based on relationships and the foibles that follow. The problem with that is it would dilute both projects.

So, back to initial cornerstone and building the brand. Brand recognition in any endeavour is paramount, when you read, watch or speak to someone, their brand shines through. You don’t need a product to promote a brand, that’s a misunderstanding. You, are a brand. What you do means something and you stand behind it. What you do, builds your social currency. Social currency is best described as your personal bank with others. It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you and what they’re willing to do for you based on your brand. If you’re a horrible person who’s pessimistic, constantly breaking your word, speaks reckless on twitter, complains endlessly and blames others. This will be what you’re known for, that is your social currency. That is your brand. You’re building a reputation on your attitude.

When I write, I think about what I want to say. I re-read my work and meticulously nitpick how it will be received. We cannot control results. You put the work in and the results will follow. You should be cognizant of your brand. Build it to the point where you’re known. You’re known for something good and people respect you. When embarking on other endeavours, be aware how your brand meshes with another. I do some modelling for an online fashion site and my primary thought process is how I can benefit them, not what it does for me. See the forrest, not just the trees and you’ll always be ahead.

Carpe Diem Que

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Categories Blogging, Philosophy

Project 365: Day 1-12

13 Jan

Day 1-4: Happy New Year

Day 5: Late Night Gym Sesh

Day 6: Sunday Funday

Day 7: Silver Lining Playbook

Day 8: Django Unchained

Day 9: This is 40

Day 10: Day in bed

Day 11: OHL Hockey

Day 12: Happy 30th, homie

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Categories Blogging

He got that Ambition, baby!

8 Jan

“the first 12 days of the year are individually connected to the 12 months of the year”

~ Yoga Instructor

Ray Lewis. A middle linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. My favourite defensive player and a motivation for my day-to-day activities. When Ray Ray announced his retirement, I reflected on his legacy. What he’s done for the game. The impact he’s made on his colleagues, his friends and his fans. This man has constantly excelled at a high level throughout his career. For a old man in a young man’s game, he constantly finds himself mentioned amongst the elite, every year. Calling it a career prior to going into the playoffs and galvanizing his team is right in tow with what he’s always done – the omnipresent motivator.

Ray Lewis’ final home entrance

There’s something to be said about calling it a career on your own terms. It increases legendary status, the George Constanza effect – leaving on a high note. You reach the zenith and could still continue, but choose to leave them wanting more. Others have tried and failed, see Tiki Barber here. For all the things Ray Ray has done, I remember him most for his rousing motivational huddles and his impact on the bench. He’ll go down in the upper echelon for his position. So, what does your legacy look like?

Will

Resolutions are being made and people are gun-ho now, but can they last the first twelve days? I spoke about habits defeating resolutions in the previous blog and I’ll continue along the same road today. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Are you this person?

“N*gg*s want different results, but do the same shit, they wait for it to come, I became it”

~ Guess Who’s Bizzack, Fabolous (Soul Tape 2)

How dedicated are you to your goals? I see a proliferation of “tourists” at the gym this month, but will you be there in February? Or is this just a dance you do every January, for the sake of staying consistent. Let Ray Ray be your motivation. Nothing will ever change if you don’t. ”Be the change you want to see in the world.” Those are some heavy words right there.

We strive to test and triumph over adversity, that’s what makes us, us. Isn’t it? When was the last time you’ve seen a person just utterly content with everything? They enjoyed staying stagnate and were happy to lollygag around without challenge. Is this just the Pisces in me?

Ambition. Drive. Will. Legacy. These are the words of legend. It stands to reason that greatness isn’t for everyone. If you’re like me, you dream about success. You obsess about it. That one thing that drives you. You feel like your day is a waste if you didn’t do something to contribute to that end. This thought process is consistent with successful people, like the Ray Lewis’, Will Smith’s, Bruce Lee’s, Jay-Z’s, Spielberg’s, Tarantino’s, Jack White’s and Messi’s of the world. Sometimes you have to miss out on certain things to attain what you want.

You don’t have to be perfect, but your vision must be. Sketch the blueprint that people will follow and strive to surpass.

Leave.

Your.

Mark.

Carpe Diem Que

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Categories Philosophy

This is 30

1 Jan

“It’s my life – it’s my pain and my struggle
The song that I sing to you it’s my ev-ery-thing
Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst is the same as – when I came
It’s my joy and my tears and the laughter it brings to me
It’s my ev-ery-thing”

~ Jay-Z, 1st Song (Black Album)

It’s minutes to midnight on New Year’s Eve and I’m working, actually I’m running around like a headless chicken. A tray full of shots pass by with people frantically preparing for the ushering of a new year. Resolutions. Reflection. You know the routine. I have to admit, I’ve been in a bit of a funk. Django Unchained sold out on Christmas, which sent me on a detour to ‘This is 40′, a great comedy, but surprisingly depressing for a person carefully weaving his life together like gimp. My eighties babies will get that reference. My ex accepting a proposal from a dude who is the polar opposite of me, two years removed from our last romantic encounter. I don’t know how I’m supposed to react to that, but I do feel a way about it. It’s like a melancholy mood. Needless to say, I was a little perturbed and rightfully so, I’m not an unfeeling stone.

Now, I look around at all these people I’ve surrounded my myself with. Shot glasses in hand. Toast. Down the hatch. I can assuredly say that this is the most happy I’ve been since Jamaica. It’s almost as if this job is the equivalent to the MTV Real World house. I didn’t ask for this family and we don’t always get along, but I’m happy to know them. All this from a toast, go figure.

So now, what’s next? I could sit here and wax lyrical about the accomplishments, pitfalls and resolutions from the year past and the one ahead. I could, but I won’t. It’s far too mundane and rudimentary. I like to be a trailblazer, not a coat-tail surfer. I can tell you that this year will be BIG! Not just for me, my life and this blog, but for a number of people around me on the cusp of greatness. I wrote ‘Iceberg Theory: Abstract Resolutions‘ last year and I believe it still holds true today. Use that as your guide and don’t worry too much about completing a “resolution”. You’re bound to A) Fail and B) Feel sorry for yourself. Much better that you create habits and improve upon them. Creating a habit is like memorization, once it becomes ritual, you’re sure to just do it out of routine.

The beautiful mind that is, Elle @ Veni Vidi Vici, instituted Project 365 in 2012. A photo journal outlining her ventures, both pertaining to her life passion and life in general. I’m going to borrow her idea and do the same, follow it on Instagram or Project Carpe Diem through Facebook.

I wish everyone the best, make your minutes count because you won’t get them back. Practice better habits and improve on the ones you’ve begun. This is your time.

Carpe Diem Que

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Categories Philosophy

Aftermath

22 Dec

“Where’s the fun in forever
Swimmin’ in a sea of time
If we only knew beginning
No end in sight”

~ Miguel, Where’s the fun in forever (Kaleidoscope dream)

In the wake of vicious fire storms, speedy maelstroms and continent cracking earthquakes, I have survived. I swear people went a little daft with the end of the world scenarios. ’What if’s’ and ‘what will’s’. I poke fun at the prediction myself because I’ve lived through two such doomsday scenarios already and “we’re still here” (Morpheus voice). Seriously, the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced was 9/11. That feeling that you absolutely don’t know what will happen next? My question to you is, “where’s the fun in forever anyway?”

The reason our lives mean so much is because there’s an expiry date. Beginning, middle and end. I’ve watched countless films and television shows with the sage character that lives forever. This individual sees it all, knows everything, but has to watch all of their closest friends and family die. That doesn’t sound like much of a life to me.

Aftermath

When I heard people fretting about 21.12.2012, I asked myself, “have I lived it right”? The answer is emphatically “yes”, I continue to ride these wheels until they go bald. Are you living it right? I have a good friend who hates where he works, finds it difficult to crack a smile and overall has a miserable demeanour. Great dude, would kill for a friend, but just doesn’t get it. Life is what you make it. There’s always room for improvement, but the fact that you take the necessary steps toward your final outcome is important issue. Anything worth building should take more than a day. That includes yourself.

“Where’s the fun in forever?”

Live each day, proudly, like it’s your last and you’ll have no reason to fret about anything this life has to offer.

Carpe Diem Que

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Categories Blogging, Philosophy

The difference between me and you?

17 Dec

The reason that they say I’m nothin’ what they seen or heard’s
The same reason Will Smith always opposite Latino girls
They only see you how they wanna see you
‘Til you make them see you in some other way
I’m trippin’ off the other day
Cause God knows what these white kids sayin’
Dude you’re not not racist cause The Wire’s in your Netflix cue
Subtle racism
It’s hard to pin it cause you’d only understand
If you were me for just a minute
This one kid said somethin’ that was really bad
He said I wasn’t really black because I had a dad
I think that’s kinda sad
Mostly cause a lot of black kids think they should agree with that
If you’re a father, you should stick around if you could
Cause even if you’re bad at it, you get Tiger Woods
MJ
We warriors, we all need senseis
Change everything that we’ve done so far
I don’t mean makin’ B.E.T. T.E.R
I mean just the way that we see each other
I won’t stop until they say, “James Franco is the white Donald Glover”
Yeah, these niggas wanted Cookie but instead I gave ‘em Loch Ness
Sick Boi for life, my swag is in a hospice
Aimin’ for the throne, Jay and Ye said to watch that
They ask me what I’m doin’, I say I’m stealin’ rock back
Nigga

~ Childish Gambino, Hold you down (Camp)

When I was young, people used to mention the fact that I’m white. This, to a black person is irritating and I’ve treaded on this topic before. It speaks to multi layers of racism which annoys the crap out of me. As a child, I would over compensate and in my fourteenth year almost saw me jumped twice. The reason this resurfaces today is based on a friend’s comment last weekend. I handled it with the quiet reflection I handle most issues concerning foolishness. Long of the short, he used a Jamaican reference and I deciphered the meaning for someone not in the know. He jabbered about this being the first time a white person was able to understand that and looks at me. This quip mean nothing to most individuals, but for black man in suburbia this is a common occurrence. I don’t know if it’s the constant inundating of “authentic” black figures on television and in music, but this is common thread I’ve heard for most of my life.

It’s like you have to use slang, wear baggy clothes, bear children out of wedlock to be considered an “authentic” african american or whatever politically correct term they use now. This comment did bother me and still affects my mood two days later, I’m above educating people.

This whole situation reminded me of a Star Trek episode I watched with my father.

This Star Trek: The Original Series episode’s plot shows the stupidity of segregation and racism. The Enterprise encounters two humanoids who are black on half their body and white on the other (as shown in the image). The crew cannot figure out, at first, why these two men hate each other over “racial issues” when as far as the crew can tell, the men are exactly the same. One of the men looks perplexed that the difference cannot be seen, for it is clear to him that he “black on the right and white on the left” while his “different-raced” enemy is “white on the right and black on the left.” (Heath C. Ice)

I don’t believe my friend is a racist, I do believe he’s ignorant which is a stigma he’ll have to extinguish on his own. For me, I don’t want to dwell on this too much further because it’s buffoonery. In conclusion, let me just end it with this, because I sport fashionable clothing, read GQ and derive enjoyment out of suiting up doesn’t make me gay. The fact that I’m extremely energetic, speak correctly, enjoy drinking wine and beer, instead of using slang and guzzling malt liquor doesn’t make me white. All of these characteristics make me human, no different from anybody else. I, like most individuals are conditioned by the environment they’re surrounded with. I don’t tote guns and womanize because that’s not what I’ve been raised around. Thinking isn’t a prerequisite to speech, but it should be.

Carpe Diem Que