Journal :: Simplify
Jay Electronica :: Exhibit C
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It’s Third Week of February… and yes, time is flying. My habits have had me stuck to google reader, google buzz, researching…etc… and filtering through all the inspirational mess that lives on the internet. I think I’ve reached another threshold of being overwhelmed by my own ambitions. It’s not so much a complaint, but more so a reminder that, you’ve gotta stay paced.
Ever since I moved, I’ve accepted that it takes time to transition, and that it’s not as quick as I originally anticipated. When you have personal deadlines and don’t meet them… a sense of disappointment sorta settles in, and you gotta face the fact that in a way you sorta failed. But at the same time, you gotta recognize the small success that happen a long the way, and not be so hard on yourself.
This month, I was supposed to be banging out the 2010 demo reel… But with this transition and all, things definitely took a turn, and I’ve gotta be a little more patient. Remind myself that I shouldn’t look left nor right.. That’s the thing about the internet though… You’re engulfed in so mo much inspiration, it’s easy to lose sight of your own voice, and easy to try to imitate, or elaborate on what you think is dope. Another thing is that I’m surrounded by hustlers... My circle involves some fantastic people, and it seems everyone is always stepping up their game…. So no matter what, I can’t fall, or fail. I gotta keep up and stay with the pack. It’s difficult to not compare your progress. How else are you going to measure your success, if you don’t take into consideration what’s dope out there? I applaud those that don’t give a fuck and do it on their own terms (Dave Choe, Levi Maestro, Saber, Nick Ngo, etc…).
Right now though, this is just what’s on my mind. I’m inspired by a lot of things, and the other night, I came across a video about a business development consultant. He was saying that, you’ve gotta “narrow you’re focus..” and “deepen your expertise.” But for a guy like me, I feel like I’m able to tap into so many things, it feels wrong, NOT to exercise all my abilities.
I realized, I just gotta simplify a little more. All those goals I have… I gotta refine them a little more and stay focused on what I’m good at. (But my ego says I’m good at everything!)
On the top right hand corner of this site it says “Stab Labs, is a behind the scenes look into our culture, inspiration, thoughts & process.” So there it is.. a behind the scenes look into my thoughts… not everything is perfect here. But the work ethic and dedication will always be. All I want to do is inspire, and I’m just trying to figure out the best way to do that.
(The images above are mock ups of how I’m planning to utilize the studio space that I have.)
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
aviel
very much relate to this post ra. sometimes i’m so motivated by my own immensely genius ideas(haha),and my amazingly talented peers, that i get that hustlin high. it leaves me so hungry, my eyes become bigger than my stomach, and b4 you know it, im stuffed! i was putting in so much work, but not completing anything;giving 10% to 10 projects, rather than 50% to 2. im still not certain the latter is the better formula, but a very wise young man once told me that things would work out because i was putting in work, period, and i should feel good about that. i still really havn’t cut down my list or completely put things on the backburner, but i took a deep breath,prioritized/honed in my focus in a bit more, celebrated those small successes, as you said, and now feel a sense of calm, and pride in the efforts i’ve made. it’s inevitable that people like us will continue to push ourselves to the limit, but its an admirable, wonderful attribute to possess…as long as we remember to be kind to ourselves along the way!
sending you some very well deserved props. u continue to inspire me! keep going!
Feb 23rd, 2010
waylan
i feel this way. i feel like instead of keeping up, i fall further behind.
likewise, all around me is inspiration, but somehow, disappointment occurs more than excitement.
but i’ve learned that when you get that excitement – catch it, hold it, feed it, and it will continue to feed you.
Ra, man, you’ve got so many things to take hold of. and you are mad skilled. it’s really good to know people like you around me, even if we’re not.. AROUND each other. feel me. that part about “it feels wrong to not exercise ALL my abilities” hits home. i feel the exact same way. i’m good at a BUNCh of different things, but.. where’s the depth. where’s the body of work that indicates how good i think i am?
it’s fragmenting. we want and are able to do many things, but we stretch ourselves. i still have to learn the balance.. it’s like, really hard… to compromise one’s self.
yea bigups to Choe, but also EO and Noah and BeautifulDecay and there’s too many to name.
looking at others’ hustle/work is mad inspirational, but probably after a point, looking at too many will be daunting, because there’s so many people in the world trying to do something. and there’s value in all of it. i think just remembering that as a sidenote/back of the head feeling is best, rather than making it what we want to dive into, so immediately. we’d get distracted.
well. unless you have a way to organize and streamline it all.
and unless it’s your gut saying you should dive somewhere. haha. hello SoMa.
w
Mar 10th, 2010
Ra
Aviel & Waylan.
Thanks for taking the time to rep your thoughts on here.. I think its dope, how a response from friends, can be so motivating and inspiring. I need to invite yall over sometime to hang out over here at the new spot.
_ra
Mar 11th, 2010
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