August Rush! : Unlocking the Safe and Trusting Your Intentions

Back when I was in middle school, I started using my trapper keeper for my most cherished writings. And when I got to high school, I got a sturdier trapper keeper and by that point, I felt that I could write freely without worrying if my projects would be safe. Because of illusive, societal standards, I thought it best to save them. I wanted them to be presented in a special and most perfect manner- albums recorded in million dollar studios, books designed and illustrated by the most sought after publishers, and stories and poems communicated on the stages across the world.

Once in college, my trapper keeper had a Sony Vaio Laptop to accompany it. I was full of ideas, creating videos, poetry, songs, and stories almost daily. Whenever I left the house, I’d either take my laptop or put it under my mattress for fear that something may happen to it. All the the while, I still had grand visions of what a finished product would look like.

A few months after graduation, I was robbed at the space I was living in and to my dismay, my computer was stolen. This incident occurred days after I declared that i’d written my most important literary piece. I was shocked, saddened, sickened, and guilt-ridden. Much of my life’s work was on that computer and there was no retrieving it. I wished terribly that I hadn’t obsessed about the perfect presentation. It would have been enough to just share more and do my best with what was given to me. Instead I waited for the perfect moment to come to me. That is sometimes the right thing to do and that is sometimes hinderance.

Since then, I swore that I would keep dreaming, but with that fanciful imagination, it was pertinent that I activate many of those ideas. In an effort to stop hoarding my creations for vanity sake, I required a project to be released by 33 and by THIS August at that! With the youthful zeal of Adam (Adxmn) and Mitchell of Friday Nights, LLC and The Suburbans, I was able to just play on the mic, pack it up, and forge ahead. The project is a raw, stripped, and mostly untreated album filled with intention. There were many things to obsess over but besides saving money, I figured it was an opportunity to encourage those who may not have the resources that lend themselves to pristinely polished efforts. Find people with heart, unlock the stored away ideas, and make it happen like only you can and to the best of your ability.

You see, the question became “ Do I trust the gift or do I trust expensive standards and posh norms?” Wouldn’t it be more expensive to hoard? It was also a matter of honoring the piles of intentions that were locked away and packed too tightly for me to be focused on giving a living account of them. There is merit in presentation, but friends, I am not about to spend another 20 years “waiting for it to be done right.” Doing it IS doing it right. Time is moving. Give the gift you have in the way that you want to give it. You will open doors for yourself and as a result, you will go accomplish more with every future effort, being able to attain your desired outcome more fully each time. But for now, just start.

Thank you Nate’Eya and Andrea for disrupting my panic. Thank you Adam and Linia for affirming and honoring my artist heart. Thank you Lavell for sharing perspective. Thank you Adxmn and Mitchell…we played, we vibed, we conquered. Thanks Phillip for inspiring conversation. Thank you Teddy for unlocking that safe. Sound and lyrics coming from Teddy the Brave this August. Big peace and love to all the dreamers that obsess over perfection. Don’t allow the background noise derail you.

-Teddy the Brave