"PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT"... (Rick Ross)
Peace! First off on a health note, make sure you are all getting your vitamins and minerals and taking good care of yourselves. A stomach virus subtley but swiftly came through Power Born and took me out for a couple of days, as well as a few co-workers, a few of my dear brothers and sisters, and children I work with. So, if you see someone with symptoms such as vomitting, multiple bathroom trips, the chills, fever, headache, and nausea, do what you can for them at a distance...this joint was highly contagious. I know at least 8 people personally who caught it. For me, what worked was time, ginger tea for the stomach, peppermint tea for the headache, orange juice for vitamin c, lemon ginger echinacea juice for some of the same, rest and a cold towel and oatmeal water to lower the fever (peace to my good brother Sha-King for that one...one of our resident herbalists). It lasted two days.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
So I was sitting in my office this morning thinking about my upcoming mixtape and frankly, keepin it real with myself, how I keep pushing back the release date. As one date approaches and it's not finished, I'll choose another date. I then realized that this is my first effort as a solo artist. I am used to being in groups...that's how I came into rapping. I like interacting with people onstage. I like making songs with people, and honestly there was always someone else (or we did it as a group) booking the studio time, getting the cover art together, paying for duplication, booking shows, getting flyers together, putting an album release party together...the whole business aspect. Now it's all up to me. I am the person accountable for making sure all of these things are done which is a shift, and I know I don't always give something so important the time it deserves to manifest itself properly. Ultimately, I am responsible for the success or failure of this project and that's a lot of weight to carry, but I can if I choose to (and I will :-).
Today's mathematics is God. One thing I thought of this morning were two things me and my God built about on different occasions.
1) "God is not here to put a battery in your back" (speaking universally, not specifically referring to me). This rings very true and there are a lot of examples for this. I should not be waiting for a push from anybody else to complete my own project if it's something I really want to do. Your God shouldn't have to make you study your degrees if it's for your own growth and development and you say you wanna be here. I know it's not easy and we all have that in common. No one should have to tell you to incorporate fruit and vegetables in your diet if you have the knowledge that it is necessary for you.
2) We also built about refinement being "high culture," as we were going through the knowledge god degree in the 1 to 40. I know people cee refinement in many different ways (i.e. to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured, etc...this is how I identified with it) and perhaps that was a jewel for me. After building on it, it makes a lot of sense, and can often times be a lot to live up to. One may have a culture that they ascribe to...a way of life with a system of values, traditions, dietary laws, ways of dress, language, etc. B.U.T., high culture is living up to said principles. Sounds easy, but it's not so simple. Just a couple of examples of not living out "high culture" may be...
-If you know we are not supposed to eat bottom feeders (scavengers of the sea...crabs, shrimp, etc) and the health reasons have been researched, but still eat some clam chowder every now and then and your auntie's special gumbo (with those dungeoness crab legs)
-If you know we don't eat pork, but eat ho-ho's, ya momz greens with the hamhock in it, or some other food that you know has pork by-products (no one can hold you accountable for what you don't know, but once you know...well, you know it, and cannot claim ignorance)
-If you know we wear 3/4ths but the hills and mountains are out...intensionally ( I know this is a touchy subject:-)
In this day and time, living in America, it is very difficult to live a life that includes that D word... DISCIPLINE. Everyone has their own level of what they can and cannot do, or what they choose to do or not do. But you never know what you're made of until you push yourself to your own limit. I remember I never thought I could ever stop eating chicken, beef turkey, all that...but I quit cold turkey (no pun intended), surprising myself. Damn, it was hard to give up my favorite food (Alaskan snow crab legs)! But I did it, and I probably eat healthier now, than I ever have in my life due to the influence of this culture. Many of us say that we have to make the teachngs "walk and talk," and that starts with us right? How are we living out this culture (or whatever you advocate if not in the Nation of Gods and Earths) to our highest ability? Are we really doing our best? Can we do better? Not much is outside of our realms of thought so if you will yourself to stop or start doing something, then you can.
-Can I study more?
"Yes"
-Can I eat better?
"Yes"
-Can I give more time to writing?
"Yes"
-Can I do more background research for my degrees?
"Yes"
"Well, I don't remember details that well."
"You can always make flash cards."
"True."
Personal accountability and responsibility is deep cuz once knowledge has been made born to you; once you know something it is up to you to put that knowedge in motion and act upon it. We move faster for some things (maybe those things that are easiest to act on), and for other things, we move slower (maybe those things that are harder to act on), but to live out Allah's World Manifest...to be the trendsetters and trailblazers of the world, we have to know that we are doing all we can to live up to our fullest equality as we know how in every moment that we are in. By saying ," I have the knowledge of self," I am saying that I am making a choice not to just be a regular American anymore. I have chosen to swallow the red pill and go down the rabbit hole. Otherwise, whatever we choose not to do due to procrastination, laziness, conditioning, anger, spite, self-loathing, how we grew up, systematic programming, or whatever (and I am speaking to myself first), will come back to bite us in the ass, and we may fall victim to the knowledge born degree in the 1 to 40, where the blood is on our own hands and the future reality that we must endure and our children must endure shall beat us with many stripes.
P.owerful E.xamination of A.llah's C.ourageous E.xample (PEACE)
I Medina Peaceful Earth
Peace! First off on a health note, make sure you are all getting your vitamins and minerals and taking good care of yourselves. A stomach virus subtley but swiftly came through Power Born and took me out for a couple of days, as well as a few co-workers, a few of my dear brothers and sisters, and children I work with. So, if you see someone with symptoms such as vomitting, multiple bathroom trips, the chills, fever, headache, and nausea, do what you can for them at a distance...this joint was highly contagious. I know at least 8 people personally who caught it. For me, what worked was time, ginger tea for the stomach, peppermint tea for the headache, orange juice for vitamin c, lemon ginger echinacea juice for some of the same, rest and a cold towel and oatmeal water to lower the fever (peace to my good brother Sha-King for that one...one of our resident herbalists). It lasted two days.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming...
So I was sitting in my office this morning thinking about my upcoming mixtape and frankly, keepin it real with myself, how I keep pushing back the release date. As one date approaches and it's not finished, I'll choose another date. I then realized that this is my first effort as a solo artist. I am used to being in groups...that's how I came into rapping. I like interacting with people onstage. I like making songs with people, and honestly there was always someone else (or we did it as a group) booking the studio time, getting the cover art together, paying for duplication, booking shows, getting flyers together, putting an album release party together...the whole business aspect. Now it's all up to me. I am the person accountable for making sure all of these things are done which is a shift, and I know I don't always give something so important the time it deserves to manifest itself properly. Ultimately, I am responsible for the success or failure of this project and that's a lot of weight to carry, but I can if I choose to (and I will :-).
Today's mathematics is God. One thing I thought of this morning were two things me and my God built about on different occasions.
1) "God is not here to put a battery in your back" (speaking universally, not specifically referring to me). This rings very true and there are a lot of examples for this. I should not be waiting for a push from anybody else to complete my own project if it's something I really want to do. Your God shouldn't have to make you study your degrees if it's for your own growth and development and you say you wanna be here. I know it's not easy and we all have that in common. No one should have to tell you to incorporate fruit and vegetables in your diet if you have the knowledge that it is necessary for you.
2) We also built about refinement being "high culture," as we were going through the knowledge god degree in the 1 to 40. I know people cee refinement in many different ways (i.e. to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured, etc...this is how I identified with it) and perhaps that was a jewel for me. After building on it, it makes a lot of sense, and can often times be a lot to live up to. One may have a culture that they ascribe to...a way of life with a system of values, traditions, dietary laws, ways of dress, language, etc. B.U.T., high culture is living up to said principles. Sounds easy, but it's not so simple. Just a couple of examples of not living out "high culture" may be...
-If you know we are not supposed to eat bottom feeders (scavengers of the sea...crabs, shrimp, etc) and the health reasons have been researched, but still eat some clam chowder every now and then and your auntie's special gumbo (with those dungeoness crab legs)
-If you know we don't eat pork, but eat ho-ho's, ya momz greens with the hamhock in it, or some other food that you know has pork by-products (no one can hold you accountable for what you don't know, but once you know...well, you know it, and cannot claim ignorance)
-If you know we wear 3/4ths but the hills and mountains are out...intensionally ( I know this is a touchy subject:-)
In this day and time, living in America, it is very difficult to live a life that includes that D word... DISCIPLINE. Everyone has their own level of what they can and cannot do, or what they choose to do or not do. But you never know what you're made of until you push yourself to your own limit. I remember I never thought I could ever stop eating chicken, beef turkey, all that...but I quit cold turkey (no pun intended), surprising myself. Damn, it was hard to give up my favorite food (Alaskan snow crab legs)! But I did it, and I probably eat healthier now, than I ever have in my life due to the influence of this culture. Many of us say that we have to make the teachngs "walk and talk," and that starts with us right? How are we living out this culture (or whatever you advocate if not in the Nation of Gods and Earths) to our highest ability? Are we really doing our best? Can we do better? Not much is outside of our realms of thought so if you will yourself to stop or start doing something, then you can.
-Can I study more?
"Yes"
-Can I eat better?
"Yes"
-Can I give more time to writing?
"Yes"
-Can I do more background research for my degrees?
"Yes"
"Well, I don't remember details that well."
"You can always make flash cards."
"True."
Personal accountability and responsibility is deep cuz once knowledge has been made born to you; once you know something it is up to you to put that knowedge in motion and act upon it. We move faster for some things (maybe those things that are easiest to act on), and for other things, we move slower (maybe those things that are harder to act on), but to live out Allah's World Manifest...to be the trendsetters and trailblazers of the world, we have to know that we are doing all we can to live up to our fullest equality as we know how in every moment that we are in. By saying ," I have the knowledge of self," I am saying that I am making a choice not to just be a regular American anymore. I have chosen to swallow the red pill and go down the rabbit hole. Otherwise, whatever we choose not to do due to procrastination, laziness, conditioning, anger, spite, self-loathing, how we grew up, systematic programming, or whatever (and I am speaking to myself first), will come back to bite us in the ass, and we may fall victim to the knowledge born degree in the 1 to 40, where the blood is on our own hands and the future reality that we must endure and our children must endure shall beat us with many stripes.
P.owerful E.xamination of A.llah's C.ourageous E.xample (PEACE)
I Medina Peaceful Earth
posted by I Medina Peaceful Earth @ 12:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home