Kanye West

It seems that the ongoing sagas, “tantrums” and headline stories of Kanye West stems much deeper than the artist being labeled as an award show crasher, racist, heated individual who is completely irrational. Watching a recent interview of Kanye West on the US Today Show, I picked up a much more different side of him a midst all of the frustrations, posing questions and irritation Kanye showed. What must be remembered in any case with celebrities period, is what they say will always be thrown out of proportion and will somehow be misconstrued whether it is a positive response or a negative response. Within this interview, any person who paid attention to Kanye directly would notice that he actually made a conscious effort to contain himself and compose his answers wholeheartedly. While he was continuously getting frustrated with the antics of the media, he tried to remain calm and explain his point of view and where his remarks came from. It also must be remembered when considering any celebrity, that first and foremost Kanye is an artist, alike many of the other singers, rappers and musicians. His sole purpose of creating music is to create art, not to create fame and the celebrity name that comes with it. So in understanding this, there has to be some room left for Kanye to breathe knowing that his first and foremost role and duty is to be creative, be an artist and be himself. Not one time should we expect him to be perfect in every aspect of the media and every part of the industry. Yes he should be composed, speak with respect and learn when to remain quiet and observant but let’s play a game of empathy. Put yourself in the shoes of Kanye West. An idolized, world renowned superstar and self proclaimed “chosen one” with an astounding ability to not only be creative but captivate people within his creativity and add a whole new aspect to the world of hip hop as we know it. This is what we see. Kanye West is a human being. A rational, strong and real individual who is not afraid to speak the truth when it needs to be spoken, ready to make a change within the world as it is today and willing to stand up for his rights and those who he loves and who love him. It seems the media has an ideology of what a superstar should be like, how a superstar should act and what a superstar should do without really paying homage to the true person they are. Kanye’s ongoing battle of losing his mother, the way he expresses his realness and his sharp intellect have all molded him into the great person that he is. It seems the media wants to box and group every one into particular categories and roles and this to me is wrong. Kanye West is a symbol of being who you are and standing up for what you are instead of what others want you to be. And maybe if people actually embraced this concept of thinking then the world would be a much more creative, exciting and peaceful place. I think Kanye is a visionary for what we all should strive to be like, never boxed in, always original and always standing up for what you believe in. Kudos to Kanye. You are a star!

Where is the Love?

Reflecting on life, the people who surround me, the people who are now memories and those who will be in my future, I have come to find that I have done a lot of growing and made a lot of changes and adjustments for the betterment of myself. Whether you see it as good or bad or whether you like me or you don’t others opinions seem irrelevant when it comes to the “big picture”.  

Always being a person wanting to make others happy, please family and friends and always helping others when I can, worked when I was younger, however, growing up and living among a completely different culture proved otherwise.

I have realized that being great and being successful is not because of people’s opinions, it stems from you realizing that people’s opinions and thoughts about you and your life are irrelevant. In the grand scheme of things, greatness can be determined from you believing in something enough to be willing to die for it. Being great comes from utilizing the negativity around you constructively and embracing the positivity with open arms. Greatness comes from being willing to put the unnecessary issues behind you and be confident in your actions and your dreams. Knowing who you are and what you stand for is the only security anyone needs to be happy and successful.

It seems there are too many people in the world attempting to bring others down instead of uplifting and empowering those around them. Envy, jealousy and hate stems from an individual’s own insecurities and the bliss they find from being ignorant. However, people engaging in this behavior do not seek the ultimate greatness they could in order to be as successful as they want. So you do the math.

There is no excuse for envy towards others because everyone has something unique and different to offer. There is no excuse for ignorance or hatred because everyone should seek to uplift others and there is no excuse for negativity towards yourself because if you don’t love yourself then who will? Once people discover the key to being happy with themselves’ and happy with the lives they were given, embracing all of their flaws and working with the hand they were dealt then people would be more humane, less hateful and ultimately more successful.

Worry about yourself, strive to uplift others along the way and seek the positive side before the negative and if it means weeding out those around you who bring you down or keep you at the same position in life, then do what you have to do and make a change for you. Without growth, change, empowerment and positivity, there is little room for greatness and success. Remember taking someone else’s dignity means nothing to you but it means everything to them, so treat people how you would want to be treated, focus on your own life instead of meddling in others, uplift those close to you and even those you don’t know and encourage positivity.

Life is all about living, not surviving, so make the most of it, you are more capable then you realize. Greatness is within YOU.  

You Decide

So I have been sifting through my Facebook newsfeed and have realized that many people are either ignorant of reality or just plain ignorant. Now please don’t get me wrong or think that I am crawling up on my high horse to look down on those around me because that is not the case, however, it struck me in awe…..what is the world coming to? Now for something so simple as a social media network to show people’s blatant ignorance, are these the same people working 9-5 jobs, the same people making money off their education and knowledge and the same people with families and balanced lives? Do these people have an education? What are they hoping to achieve by speaking in blasphemy or even representing themselves the way they do. Could it be tied to something much deeper? Even a lack of self esteem, self confidence or “ignorance” of reality or people just being themselves?  In wanting to understand this more, I decided to research into ignorance. I thought about it from a logical standpoint.  Ignorance can be defined as a state of being uninformed; lacking in knowledge or education and/or untrained. This is merely a definition, however, speaks truth and highlights what I also took to be ignorance through this social media network. Unfortunately ignorance is everywhere we turn but from a deeper standpoint, we can see that although ignorance is in the human nature it can also be born through human nurture. The people we expose ourselves to, the experiences we have, our background, culture and education. All of these things contribute wholeheartedly to ignorance.  While people who go to college are educated and in tune with the world around them are STILL thriving throughout their ignorance or indulgent in it, baffles me. I also see ignorance as a choice at times. Some people choose to ignore or accept reality or if it affects their lives negatively, they may also choose to overlook various aspects in life. It makes me wonder, should we just be accepting of this ignorance or should we all look within ourselves to change our ways. It all starts with ourselves. If we cannot make a change, why should we expect others to do so? Ignorance is something both natural and nurtured. It is something that we all possess whether by accident or on purpose and it is something that can at times hold us back from the success we could have. So in your belief is ignorance a good thing or a bad thing? You decide.