Stakes IS High

The Abstract Subliminal …

That is a line used by the rapper Q-Tip of the seminal rap group, A Tribe Called Quest. They were a part of group of rappers calling themselves ‘The Native Tounges’ and they had a different perspective from the rappers of the day, or any day for that matter. Queen Latifah, The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul were among that collective.

The kind of music they made was more affirming in nature, and kept away from the nihilism that the music genre is stuck in now. Anyway, ‘Stakes Is High’ is a De La Soul release, the last one that I purchased from them. The title song is preceded by a interview with a homeless man speaking to maybe an interviewer, perhaps for a documentary.

I was still boxing in North Carolina, still doing and living quite well. Something in the voice of the unknown man grabbed me. The description he gave of his condition and what his day to day existence had become.

Morning Edition

There is a recurring feature ‘Storycore’ which is a program with the Library of Congress where people get to tell and record a story for posterity. Today’s story was one that took me back to the soliloquy of the homeless man … because it was a former homeless man talking about how he descended to homelessness. It was there, where he thought somehow, he was not quite as bad off as those around him, when another homeless man, who by the speakers description, was worse off than he was, who took a dollar and some change and gave it to him, saying that HE needed it more than him!

It was a really touching story, and showed how the tiniest act of thoughtfulness can give a person the push they need. The speaker took the money caught a bus to get help (since it was now OBVIOUS he needed it!) and was able to get the boost he needed to rebuild his life, and give back through his work.

That is why I try as hard as possible to be kind and thoughtful. Not only is it that I may be providing something for someone else, but what ever someone is supposed to give ME I will be able receive it.

KEVIN EVERETT

I saw him on ‘Rome Is Burning’ this week. Though he was very grateful for his circumstance, the interviewer Jim Rome seemed to be trying to find the ‘hopelessness’ in his situation, trying to find the point where he lost faith. Kevin Everett who is a man of faith, doesn’t have ‘hopelessness’ in him. He didn’t come out and say it, but he never once thought that he wasn’t going to walk again.

Some may say he was fortunate that he was at one of the few places in the entire world where people who were trained in the special technique that helped with his recovery, were there to respond and treat him. Funny thing this ‘faith’ … it seems that ‘coincidences’ like the situation Kevin Everett found himself in, just find themselves bundled up tight like that.

THE BIG FINISH

Well, I think that I have a target set … I think that I know what I would like to do and where I would like to do it. I NOW wish I had a drink, because this is where the nerves start to get going. As things begin to grow sharper in focus and you start to claim what you want, the pressure increases. Though it is still in a nascent state, the idea in my mind makes so much sense that I get the anxious butterflies that a child gets prior to their birthday party!

Still a little too unfinished in my mind to commit to ‘paper’, but it is working that way. Anyway, today I have a doctor’s appointment, my M.D. … Tomorrow I will start back running in the morning!

... still pondering the insecurity of some ladies ..!