Master… it is a powerful word, full of meaning, and today I am going to explore it’s depth and scope. It is loosely defined as one who has achieved a level of perfection within their craft. It is the difference between being “good” and being “great” at something. For instance, everyone can turn on a stove, but everyone can’t cook. Additionally, have you ever heard the difference between using a clock radio to play cd’s versus a regular house system? For all intensive purposes, I’ll assume that you have. Essentially, the fullness is lost when listening to music on a device that, while it may have some of the necessary elements, it clearly is not designed to deliver true quality. They both are designed to play a cd, but one of them simply does it better. Now that we’ve constructed a foundation, let’s delve further.
Have you ever met a master of a craft? A person that is so good at something that their brilliance makes you question your own life’s purpose? This person has figured out what they were born to do and you wonder, how did they do that? How did they figure out life and break it down so simplistically to grasp and attain complete ownership of one skill? Normally they are very easy-going individuals who don’t want anymore than to be paid for the days they were working, when the world was at play. There is a certain amount of precision (to their work) that cannot be explained. It comes from their shear determination and, despite how much I hate to admit it, hard fucking work. It’s when a doctor gets a feeling that something isn’t right and wants to run a few more tests… even when all the instruments and his training say nothing is wrong. This doesn’t come from his training; this comes from a love and passion for what he is doing and the people he serves. Many people love to do what they want, but rarely what they must. There are those lucky few that absolutely love what they have to do and choose to do nothing else. As I mentioned earlier, this requires a love for what you are working on and a deep appreciation for everyone who works with a similar passion (whatever pursuit/endeavor that may be).
The development of these skills requires something that is beyond value; actually it’s a very personal question we all have to ask ourselves. How much are you willing to invest in yourself? This includes not only time and money; it is the desire to be considered one of the best. You live to not only be regarded as great, but to move the entire profession further than it was before you became associated with it. These are the days spent inside, developing your skill, while others take the most important thing on Earth for granted. What is that, you may ask? It is time… the second you lost not working towards bettering yourself is gone forever. There is nothing else in this world, with the exception of family, that you lose and cannot replace. After brief reflection, I must say that, too, can be considered a sub-set of time. Mainly because it’s only after loved ones are gone that we think about the time we should have spent with them.
I’m cool with a dee-jay by the name of Jay-Clipp. He owns turntables that allow him to use cds instead of vinyl records, so he doesn’t use crates like he did for first twelve years of his cultivation of his craft. I went with Clipp when he did the 4th annual Linen Party in Dallas, TX. I asked Clipp if he could hear the difference between the digital tables and normal ones and he immediately said “yeah.” Seemingly without having a second thought he said, “nothing beats the sound of vinyl; there is a difference but you can only hear it if you know what you listening for.” Those words were what inspired me to write this post. One night, after he had purchased the set he has now, he was doing a house party. It was a party for a fraternity and because of the wattage required by his tables, he didn’t have the power needed to use them. His only option was to use a single disc cd player. He had a hype man come through with a hand held mic, telling jokes during the night, to keep things moving. We talked about what was needed to power his tables and he knew the exact wattage and the modifications that were required for them to work properly. He was intimately attuned to the ins and outs of his tools needed to do his job at its best. Even though he has the finesse to use a single cd player for future gigs, I got the feeling he doesn’t want to do that ever again.
I am still the same dude, but this year I lost my grandfather, my uncle and my great aunt (the last two within a week of each other.) Normally when someone passes in your family, a man thinks of what has he done in his life that he is proud of and up until lately, there really hasn’t been much for me. I once read a quote by Leonardo Da Vinci that said, “If people knew how hard I worked on my art, no one would think I was a genius at all.” I love that quote because it made that dude seem normal. Like… Da Vinci was this cat that will be discussed forever and he was a regular dude. He had to bust his ass to get his shit done. It was hard and he would start on things and never finish them… sometimes he even fucked up, but he kept working. He had ideas about the world, enjoyed fucking, and loved creating. If he can take the time to really work on his art, then I should be willing to do the same. My goal is to work on my craft more and more each day; to make something I’m truly proud of for years to come. Even with that said, I’m still the dude that took a girl to a hotel knowing I couldn’t get a room and fucked her in Tony J’s car in the parking lot. Right after that, I took her home on Tony J’s horrible ass brakes (LOL). Note: You know I had to throw a story in there right quick. Anyway, I am working on my craft; so let me grow a little bit. All I am trying to do is make my shit the best. I might be the only fucking straight Black man writing anything at all (at least it seems like it). You don’t know how much time you’ve got here… So why are you sitting there at a job you hate, making enough to be broke, but too much for assistance? Today start mastering anything and create something that you can be proud of… you never know, it might be the last thing you do.
©2006 YoungBreezy.com
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