Coffeeshop man likes to bitch...bitch...bitch....

Just got the artwork done.  BAM.  Put it on Amazon and Imma be (immabeimmaimmaimmabee - the black eyed peas) a rich man. 

 - Quoth a crazy ass midwestern dude at a coffeeshop in LA.  Sofuckingposh.  I don't know what's worse: this annoying guy's fucking ego or the fact that every time I say Imma be I think about that damn song and Fergie's legs)

I love/hate how peep come to LA--or really any big enough city with a mild, drug-induced art scene--to be delusional as if its acceptable because he/she/it is an artYst.

Ego. Ego.    
Do we really need to tell ourselves hopeful fantasies about the future in order to enjoy ourselves now?  What are we reaching for here?

I say "we" because I, too am guilty of clinging to the stupid lifting labels I sometimes identify with.  It's hard not to jump on the bandwagon under social pressure (and I transform into actor, musician, weirdo, Gir from Invader Zim.  So we're all in the same pants here…metaphorically, virtually, web-o-centrically, whatever.

This kind of future-focused thinking is not conscious.  Who or what are we trying to be and why?  What more do we have to be than ourselves?! 

And if you have to "become" something, who says?  The voice of your mother or father  who would gave up when they had kids and now place pressure on your shoulders to make the family name a franchise?

Do you really need to become something to be happy?  Fuck no.  I'm pretty sure I'm already a human being with a bigass brain capacity and the ability to do something rad for the world or help at least one person in the very least.   

This may be an argument for lethargy or abusing the welfare system (if you're a lazy, ignorant bastard), BUT how such mindfulness is carried out is not my point here.  The point is: we can easily be awake, physically; we are not awake mentally and mostly, AUTHENTICALLY.

I say authentic as a conglomeration of intellect and physicality.  A combo of your inner essence and artistic or intellectual gifts.  Recognize them.  Realize that you are fucking perfect just as you are.   There's is no where to go and nothing to be.  The essence is not disturbed (<--totally not my line, Kerouac's Buddha Poems).

So back to this dude at the coffee shop that struck such a nerve in me: be appreciative, you dick.  Seriously, Look the fuck around, we're sitting in an air-conditioned room with franchise-cups that came all the way from China--this fucking piece of plastic has witnessed more of the world than you have--hell, at least it knows it's purpose and performs it well.  And you're sitting in your comfy chair with your latte complaining that your life isn't ____ enough.  What _____ enough??!!!  What more do you want? 

We live in a very very fortunate world (kiss the sun thank you), and being appreciative is everything.  But it has to be authentic.  So breathe and relax--embrace the air around you.  Let the eyes share the warmth.


Thich Nhat Hanh.  A lot of this is inspired by his writings.