We Define The Culture
"Head in the clouds, heart on the ground."
JP The Diesel
10/20/2014

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

-Winston Churchill

      Our mothers and fathers have raised us up with the mental capacity and knowledge that we can be whom ever we wish to be and that success is at our fingertips in such a beautiful world. We have seen the barrage of glamour, glitz, stardom, beauty, and fame daily since our memories flicker with the new age of technology. What hasn't been ingrained in our constant adaptive skins is that we ourselves have to create this mindset we feel so entitled to. We may fall short to the bare essential tools and needs to reach said ideal; yet still blame outside factors. Your upbringing, status, stature, appearance, and financial offset are real factors indeed, but you are the true factor of your own success and happiness. 

Let's think.

       As an active member of the ever growing hip-hop community striving to be a multifaceted pawn in a kings world I see, feel, and understand the frustration that comes with being an artist striving for his/her place in the never ending gambit. Talent is a subtle addition to the toolbox of any growing seeker, it's a factor but not key. Understanding that this world is more than music, more than a following, and more than numbers is a huge key. What we learn over years of walking is not about foot steps; we learn about scars, cuts, scrapes, and terrain. Start to see your surroundings, your place, and what you can do for others as well as yourself. We as a whole seem to want to hear exactly what we feel we deserve yet steer away from the reciprocal which may grant a greater outcome.

       Take a look at yourself and reevaluate what you're doing, plus view what you are doing with your time and energy. At times we may feel that we are doing so much and it may be wasted energy toward an act or route that isn't going to grant an end result/product. For instance; I use to write two to three hours a day at coffee shops to stay sharpened and conditioned yet what was it for? Instead of creating pieces for distribution, reviews for viewers, blogs for sites, etc. I was writing to cater to my own needs. We as individuals have to strive toward the aspect life is not a grand movie made to star us, find your moments to lead, your moments to watch, and your moments to direct. Create positive realistic goals, routes, connections, and outcomes. Please do strive for more and always imagine your end game, but don't set yourself up for something out of reach. Creating ranges of goals will keep you energetic, hungry, and motivated every goal you meet will be a catalyst from small to large.

        The greatest aspect of life is simply living it and seeing that fruits you can bare and harvest, the hardest part of life is imagining one that is not yours. Daily we struggle with expectations made, seen, and imagined... why? We are individual beings which seem to blueprint ourselves off of the lives of others. I wonder if a shark envies an eagle or if a sardine envies a pigeon. ( think of that one ) There will be a day where your life and your grasp of reality clash, a beautiful collision of acceptance and clarity. Once you have this moment you'll begin to view through transparent eyes and I hope you see exactly it is you are here for. The equation is quite simple:

A + B + C = ME

A. What makes you happy; what job/career brings you joy while granting you financial security.

B. Who makes you happy; which people are positive catalysts in your life that will bring out the best you.

C. Is it enough; This is the tricky part, this is purely up to you.

-JP

W.D.T.C.