What today brought

I had a really interesting conversation today with my mentee through WBL. Well I had a very interesting weekend which culminated into what I realized after I spoke to my mentee today.  As he poured over about his passion for b-boying, I encouraged him with all sincerity that he was going to make it. His gift was going to make room for him to get to places he's never dreamed.  He's a b-boy and I told him two things: don't put b-boying in a box and work on his character.  What I meant was that he should find ways to take the things that he doesn't really like about life and apply his future as a b-boy to it.  No he doesn't like school but in this system you need a degree to fall back on it.  Find a way to apply what is expressed in class to b-boying, or at least read books so you can know more about your craft. Then the topic on character--if he was to win $1,000,000 come up with a plan for who you are going to be and what you are going to do with that right now.  As fame comes, so do the leaches. People will get in your ear and make you think you are more than what you are.  Fame and money can be the best thing that happens to people and it can also be the worst. Decide who you are going to be and what you are going to do right now, while you don't have those things.

So this conversation was the culmination of me taking my own advice. I skipped church this morning, not because I'm a heathen but because I wanted a break and I wanted to catch up on somethings.  As I'm laying around contemplating, I'm thinking about how unhappy I am with my life right now. I'm not super excited about much and things are becoming routine. I'm not making the impact that I thought I'd be making some odd years out of college and it's nobody's fault.  I want to WBL's Teach in yesterday and it got me excited once again about finding ways to be a part of some cause for social justice.  It also made me remember how on it I was before I got my Masters about hip hop in the academy.  So there is that, but mostly what I'm unhappy about is how I go to rehearsal after rehearsal and sing songs with my heart not even being present.  So, if I have a love for writing, a love for music, a love for the academy, and a love for people, what do I do with it. Well this is going to sound sad but I'm going to figure it all out one step at a time.  I'm going to keep learning the craft of music and find myself in it all.  I'm going to keep teaching and trying new things with the hope that I will find a place where I fit in.

The funny thing about life, and I say this so prematurely because I am only 27, is that there is no one shot route to success. It is a squiggly line that sometimes has you in circles.  The same way I encouraged my mentee to not put his passions in a box is the same thing that I am going to do myself.  I'm not going to think that there is just one road toward getting where I want to go.  Ultimately I just want to make an impact with the talent that I have. I want to be happy with myself because I know I did my best. So here I am. This is what today brought.

For everyone searching for success keep learning and keep getting better. I hope this makes sense.

Here's some info on WBL's teach in:



Here's some video of how awesome my mentee is



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