Straight Hustlin' Like Steady B
I'm gettin' older - and gettin' better with time /
And rhyme after rhyme, I'm gonna get mine /
Hustlers gotta hustle.
For everything in life, there is a season. Every friendship has a duration. Every relationship has a time limit. We may not be done with friends when friends are done with us. Or vice versa.
I've been bar-down, pedal-down for months now. I still haven't really unpacked my brain from the colossal cross-country music trip that I experienced. I've been playing music like mad and climbing all over the fretboard and leaving ink entrails all over my songbook. And I haven't stopped. And I continue to go.
I try to climb into bed at the same time. I get up really early. I check the lumber inventory of a truck. I check it again. And then I check it a third time. And then I criss-cross and careen all over the city and countryside of the Valley like an unpredictable and loud, deflated balloon. Typing in this forum seems like an exercise of futility, and yet, I still make myself do it once in a while. Obviously, I've fallen off the wagon of my intent to blog every day this year, but hey - we all need to fall off wagons once in a while.
We all need to taste the dirt of our shortcomings and cut our lips on the cold, hard ground of the unforgiving world. It's alright.
I used to take solace in the simple things in life. And to an extent, I think I still do, but I'm caught in a cycle. I can remember getting a Steady B tape when I was a kid, and I marvelled at it. His beats. His lyrical flow. His black and white pin stripe outfit. And even now, I see his point - Hustlers gotta hustle. There is no time to slack. We need to make our lives, and get busy building the structures that support our dreams.
I still don't know exactly what I'm looking for, but as I get older, and I continue to hustle, and fight against the slackerdom of my youth, I realize that at the absolute minimum - at least I'm figuring out what I don't want.
And although I believe in being reckless and daring to take a risk, I no longer want to be surrounded by people who are reckless with their emotions. And by reckless, I mean so self-focused that they are blind to the ripple effect of their actions upon the shores of their loved ones. No matter the age. Or the experience level. It's not fair to me. And it's not fair to them. It's not fair to anyone.
Hustling is love.
And so, I hustle on. Rhyme on, Steady.
