The Zen of Transformers

People My People,

It’s hard for me to pull myself up from a nap if it’s a home. Very hard. Even on cold days something warm in the air pins me to the mattress. However, on my daily car nap on lunches I can bounce right up scared im going to oversleep and not make it to a place I don’t want to be in the first place. Im starting to see that life is all about motivations. We are constantly being pulled by different things to be different people for different reasons and it can definitely weigh on a person. However, we will bend over backwards to not be late for work, wear the right things when we are there, get all the work done that they ask us to. But when it comes to ourselves or family/friends, it seems like everyone, including ourselves are wearing a t-shirt saying, “I can wait till tomorrow”. Sad state of affairs that is. Don’t know why I started out this way, im not depressed or anything. Maybe feeling a lot on my plate again? Maybe I have a lot on my plate and im questioning why did I even come to this restaurant? Why did I even choose this dish? I hate liver. Who even eats liver anymore?

I once heard it explained this way. Life is like getting a credit card with an unlimited balance. You go to the mall and pick out a hideous lime green Elvis rug, pink shag carpet lampcovers, zebra print wallpaper, pretty much everything that makes you vomit a little in your mouth. You get home, look at your purchases and realize, I never wanted any of this crap. When people say they want a lot of money, what they are really saying is they want time to do what they want. Because really once they get the money the first thing they want to do is use it to sit on the beach and do nothing (which you can do right now for free). So in this metaphor, and in life, time is money, money is time and if you are like me you have little of both. So here is my suggestion. Let’s have a garage sale! We may not be able to get rid of everything all at once, but perhaps we can do away with at least one time killer. One suggestion presented to me is eliminate the frequency that you read and respond to emails, texts. With the invention of smartphones it is now possible to instantly know everything. But sometimes, too many choices and too much information can actually cause more stress. Try going down to checking and responding to three times a day. Especially emails. Emails can definitely wait. Too much news can be a spirit killer as well, so try to skip it sometimes when you channel surf or go on yahoo. Believe me, as someone who never opens the paper, or watches the news, anything newsworthy you will find out quick. When Anna Nicole Smith died, I found out within ten minutes of her death without being on my phone while standing in line at a store. See, it even works for information you don’t want to hear. Give it a try, and so will i. Im a huge iphone user/abuser.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
One thing im happy to put on my plate is my engagement! Very excited about that. Crazy thing is that my parents are getting remarried to each other as well after being divorced for 17 years. So both my parents and I are planning our wedding together. Not having it together but we are both in the planning stages and its kinda strange. But im loving it. Its also very challenging. The symbol for pre-marital counseling should be a sharp shovel digging out bones from a closet. You start uncovering issues you didn’t even know you had. But as you know my friends, im all about self discovering. That’s why I dedicate so much of my blog to what I have been learning vs what I have been doing or where im playing. You can go to my website or facebook for that. I want you to know the real me, my thoughts, fears, what im excited about, etc…And marriage is the biggest and best thing on my plate.

I do have a few cool gigs coming up so check my site. And im starting to get back in the studio again working on a free mixtape for all of you with some local producers. I have a few more things that will come out even before that but ill keep that under wraps till they are done. My weekly show Train of Thought was on the cover of the SD Reader! Check out the article here. So much talent in SD.
Fiesta Del Sol is coming up August 13 and 14th. We are still looking for volunteers. This is a great event that empowers the community and gives them resources at the same time we party like rockstars. And did I mention its free? Im in charge of one of the stages so you know its gonna be poppin’ (that means it’s gonna be great if you are not versed in Hip-hop). Let me know if you want to help serve your community. Its not too late.

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
Sorry I have been away for so long, been getting engaged, travelling to Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia, and living as fully as I can. But I never forgot you. I thought of you today. I was watching the new Transformers movie, (pretty good by the way), and the power went out. The manager comes out and says the power is out in the whole mall and it’ll be a few minutes and they will get it back up. “How many minutes exactly” the guy with the Buddhist beads around his wrists and his toddler brother’s tight shirt on said. “three to five minutes.” Was the reply. Three minutes later I hear an alarm and baby T yells out, “its been three minutes!” and storms out to yell at the manager. We can hear him in the lobby from where we sat. About three more minutes pass and we are up and running. About an hour later it goes out again. To my right I can hear the Buddhists beads shaking violently. The manager comes in again and says they are working on it, and it should be another couple of minutes. He offered us refund and a free pass if we want to leave now. Otherwise we can watch the rest and still get a pass but no refund. Many stay, many storm out mad. The total combined time we are out of power was approx. 10 min. To those who stormed out, it ruined their life and they have to watch the first half over. I came out satisfied with the movie and a free pass for something the theatre had no control over.

That is when I thought of you, the challenge then is this. For a 24 hr period, think of my movie experience and anything that would normally annoy you, take the time to be patient for a minute or ten or whatever. Just for that day do not rush anything. Let things come as they may. Do not fight the now. This includes annoying people. Just smile and let them be annoying. It will almost be funny to you. Let me know how it works out for you.

Until Then
Be now
Remember The Light
Gill Sotu
www.trainofthoughtsd.com
www.gillsotu.com

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