The 50th Law: 10 Lessons in Fearlessness
View more documents from Robert Greene.
25.1.10
wise words from a decent man.
im still in the middle of the 48 laws of power and the art of seduction, but ive skimmed through this as well, and id recommend it to anybody interested in a change of lifestyle.. minutely or in the grand scheme of things
15.1.10
Robert E. Lee
I was ready to wave the white flag.
Ready to move to oklahoma and just live at my aunt's house.
Boston, maybe?
Going against the grain has been my most arduous task to date. You lose friends along the way, relationships grow distant, and support systems all but disappear when little to no progress is being made.. Then it dawned on me that I was fighting a war where you are setup to fail.
A war on traditional thinking.
Whats foreign is uncomfortable. Whats uncomfortable is what we try our best to ignore. What if we embrace that change? for one second, just step out of your comfort zone to experience something brand new?.. at some point doesn't the same atmosphere, the same settings, the same people.. get bland? lose a bit of its flavor..?
Stale; "no longer able to perform well or creatively because of having done something for too long"
You react off of what you know.. but what about when what you know supersedes those around you? the old adage about taking a horse to the water, but not being able to force them to drink rings true time after time. At some point along the way, i learned to do my best at settling with haphazardness, not from myself.. but from my surroundings in general. All cliches aside, what you grow up in usually tends to stay with you no matter your locale. If you are not mentally strong enough, you will never reach outside of those four walls to discover that there is an actual world outside, and its staring back at you.
I woke up this morning feeling like it would be any other day.. then my phone began to vibrate; messages, emails, opportunities, phone calls.. all sources of motivation. all reminders that hey.. someone is listening, someone actually does "get it".. maybe its not all in vain? .. inspiration comes from the strangest places, in the strangest forms, and most of the time from people that you expect it from the least.
It made me lace up my shoes a little tighter.. I smiled a little harder when i saw the sunset.. and in those solitary moments, I came back to life.
Winning is half the battle, tomorrow bring new joys and new challenges.. I hide those encouragements in my back pocket to make sure i'm equipped. I'd encourage you to do the same.
Ready to move to oklahoma and just live at my aunt's house.
Boston, maybe?
Going against the grain has been my most arduous task to date. You lose friends along the way, relationships grow distant, and support systems all but disappear when little to no progress is being made.. Then it dawned on me that I was fighting a war where you are setup to fail.
A war on traditional thinking.
Whats foreign is uncomfortable. Whats uncomfortable is what we try our best to ignore. What if we embrace that change? for one second, just step out of your comfort zone to experience something brand new?.. at some point doesn't the same atmosphere, the same settings, the same people.. get bland? lose a bit of its flavor..?
Stale; "no longer able to perform well or creatively because of having done something for too long"
You react off of what you know.. but what about when what you know supersedes those around you? the old adage about taking a horse to the water, but not being able to force them to drink rings true time after time. At some point along the way, i learned to do my best at settling with haphazardness, not from myself.. but from my surroundings in general. All cliches aside, what you grow up in usually tends to stay with you no matter your locale. If you are not mentally strong enough, you will never reach outside of those four walls to discover that there is an actual world outside, and its staring back at you.
I woke up this morning feeling like it would be any other day.. then my phone began to vibrate; messages, emails, opportunities, phone calls.. all sources of motivation. all reminders that hey.. someone is listening, someone actually does "get it".. maybe its not all in vain? .. inspiration comes from the strangest places, in the strangest forms, and most of the time from people that you expect it from the least.
It made me lace up my shoes a little tighter.. I smiled a little harder when i saw the sunset.. and in those solitary moments, I came back to life.
Winning is half the battle, tomorrow bring new joys and new challenges.. I hide those encouragements in my back pocket to make sure i'm equipped. I'd encourage you to do the same.
12.1.10
artistic integrity
"ok uh..look.. if you wanna just keep doing the same ol thing, then maybe this idea is just not for you, i for one, am not going to compromise my artistic integrity, and ill tell you something else, this is the show, and we're not going to change it.."
maintaining integrity when it comes to music is one of, if not THE, hardest things to accomplish.. its a steady see-saw of money outweighing your obligations to what you consider to be "good" music.. i've had this conversation on end with many different people. listening to "the mixtape about nothing", which was my introduction to Wale, and seeing his transition as of now, brings a certain irony when re-visiting the tape.
its been said that everyone has a price.. there are so many "what if?" and "would you?" scenarios that i could think of, but how do you know how you would truly react until you have been put into that predicament?
our generation as a whole has been brainwashed by television and "popular" radio to a point where there is no standard for comparison. you could say i'm reaching, but how could you classify a gem as the best, if you had not taken the time to compare it to the same stone in its class? where is the medium for those who don't check blogs every hour, who don't keep up with the latest underground artist via nahright to know anything other than what is force fed on a daily basis?
i've been approached by artists that i feel are garbage who have heard my work, and wanted me to either give them a beat, or even buy one.. the answer has been inconsistently yes, and no. thankfully, for variable reasons, those transactions never occurred. your legacy lasts longer than any publishing check.. and the groundwork i'm establishing for myself shouldn't be constructed of any cheap nails or screws that seem appealing because they come at a great price.
"money should make you comfortable so that you dont have to compromise yourself or do anything just for money, it should give you the freedom to do what you love"
but music is a business, and it comes at a cost.. how much are you willing to spend? im in a place that i would prefer not to be in .. job wise, and career wise. both compromise my true goals in life, but in the case of my job, it provides enough income to fund what may eventually pay out to be what ive always dreamed of..
freedom of choice.
maintaining integrity when it comes to music is one of, if not THE, hardest things to accomplish.. its a steady see-saw of money outweighing your obligations to what you consider to be "good" music.. i've had this conversation on end with many different people. listening to "the mixtape about nothing", which was my introduction to Wale, and seeing his transition as of now, brings a certain irony when re-visiting the tape.
its been said that everyone has a price.. there are so many "what if?" and "would you?" scenarios that i could think of, but how do you know how you would truly react until you have been put into that predicament?
our generation as a whole has been brainwashed by television and "popular" radio to a point where there is no standard for comparison. you could say i'm reaching, but how could you classify a gem as the best, if you had not taken the time to compare it to the same stone in its class? where is the medium for those who don't check blogs every hour, who don't keep up with the latest underground artist via nahright to know anything other than what is force fed on a daily basis?
i've been approached by artists that i feel are garbage who have heard my work, and wanted me to either give them a beat, or even buy one.. the answer has been inconsistently yes, and no. thankfully, for variable reasons, those transactions never occurred. your legacy lasts longer than any publishing check.. and the groundwork i'm establishing for myself shouldn't be constructed of any cheap nails or screws that seem appealing because they come at a great price.
"money should make you comfortable so that you dont have to compromise yourself or do anything just for money, it should give you the freedom to do what you love"
but music is a business, and it comes at a cost.. how much are you willing to spend? im in a place that i would prefer not to be in .. job wise, and career wise. both compromise my true goals in life, but in the case of my job, it provides enough income to fund what may eventually pay out to be what ive always dreamed of..
freedom of choice.
6.1.10
black zombies.
i have a niche for self isolation. at times i disappear from the social scene because im repulsed by everything it represents. i think surrounding yourself with a fortress is possibly the worst defense tactic, because if it all falls down, you yourself have nowhere to run. having a daughter put a lot of things in perspective for me when it comes to females. being a producer put a lot of things in perspective for me when it comes to my listening habits. being a photographer put a lot of things in perspective for me when it comes to cherishing moments that wont ever be able to be re-lived..
everything seems so surface level, so materialistic.. is there nothing that lies beneath the surface? no graduated thinking? unorthodox means of enjoyment? i think ive outgrown the majority of those around me.. and while i watch them relish in their own lives, it gives me a certain distaste to watch the lives they lead, paths that i have taken that will ultimately lead to unhappiness. but being happy all leads back to perspective, no?
when i make music, i so willingly watch it go free, monetarily and literally because i never learned the drums because i thought one day i could actually make a living off of it. when i take pictures, i got into because i loved it, not because i figured one day i could leech off of females with low self esteem who felt like modeling would give them some sort of validity as a woman. i move off emotion, but my emotion is closely guarded by logic. but at the end of the day im human, and no matter what any guy, woman, or child tells you.. emotion is the guiding path for 99% of choices, some just have a better cape and mask to veil these decisions as logic.
ramblings aside, i just wish people felt.. like genuinely felt something.. whether it be love or hate. dont allow yourself to consummate with the norm, with the propaganda, and give in to all the world's ills.. its a hell of a road getting back to where you started.
luckily i had an escape route.
everything seems so surface level, so materialistic.. is there nothing that lies beneath the surface? no graduated thinking? unorthodox means of enjoyment? i think ive outgrown the majority of those around me.. and while i watch them relish in their own lives, it gives me a certain distaste to watch the lives they lead, paths that i have taken that will ultimately lead to unhappiness. but being happy all leads back to perspective, no?
when i make music, i so willingly watch it go free, monetarily and literally because i never learned the drums because i thought one day i could actually make a living off of it. when i take pictures, i got into because i loved it, not because i figured one day i could leech off of females with low self esteem who felt like modeling would give them some sort of validity as a woman. i move off emotion, but my emotion is closely guarded by logic. but at the end of the day im human, and no matter what any guy, woman, or child tells you.. emotion is the guiding path for 99% of choices, some just have a better cape and mask to veil these decisions as logic.
ramblings aside, i just wish people felt.. like genuinely felt something.. whether it be love or hate. dont allow yourself to consummate with the norm, with the propaganda, and give in to all the world's ills.. its a hell of a road getting back to where you started.
luckily i had an escape route.
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