Let Nas Down by J. Cole (Assigned to Scotty2Hotty by Matt Ramah)

We all have our own personal relationship with the stars. Some of us see the heavens above, while others see unique clusters of gaseous space dust. The night’s sky is our original amusement as human beings. We connect the dots to create our own images dancing above the horizon. Those tiny twinkling lights are dying to shine down on us and nobody can argue with that.

Somewhere throughout history we began to reference creatively talented people as “stars”. We also began to perceive them as these untouchable inspirations. They seem out-of-this-world like the actual stars overhead. We see them as something better than we’ll ever be and we let that blind us from the fact that they’re human, just like us. All the time we give them this status, we expect them to never let us down. Yet when they do, we feel betrayed and resent them for being… just like us.

Our best role models are our peers. When we have people we share our lives with that we can admire and learn from, there’s nothing to keep us from our hearts’ desires. We can still look up to those people we call stars, but we only should if we believe in ourselves too. If we’re driven enough we could even find ourselves sharing the light with them. For some of us that’s just crazy, but for others it’s the absolute truth.

The thought of doing all that work to stand shoulder to shoulder with a “star” we idolize should seemingly be glorious. However that star may never see us as an equal because of the choices we made to reach their level. These particular stars have the chance to burn us with their criticism no matter how inspiring they were to us along our path. Talk about a truly disheartening experience. Only side by side sharing a view of the sky could overcome such a petty point of view.

Long live the idols, may they never be your rivals

It’s not about Jesus or whoever wrote the bible.

Look up to the stars in the sky, not the ones who sin

Believe in yourself and let your story begin.

-Scotty2Hotty- “I’m a star? I’d rather be a comet by far..” – Andre3000

Karma Police by Radiohead (ASSIGNED to Ricky G. by Matt Ramah)

In Hinduism and Buddhism the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. This is one definition of Karma. There are very few things in life that I truly believe in, and karma is definitely one of them. To me it is a very powerful force that, at times, plays a major role in the way I do things.

When I was younger I went through a phase of shoplifting (which I’m sure I’m not the only one). I don’t know why I did it. It was never anything that I ever needed. Just little petty shit, like stuff from Spencer’s (ironic) or other stupid places like that. Anyways, as I got older I started to notice that the more I did these things – 1. The worst I felt and 2. The more negative things began happening to me. I attribute these negative forces in my life directly to Karma.

Now I’m not a huge Radiohead fan, but I can appreciate their music. I really enjoyed this song, and especially enjoyed the video. The way it was shot and the message I got from it. The video really drove home (to me) the true irony of karma. The way the car (with what appears to have Squeeno in the backseat) chasing down this poor man who seems to be running for his life, only to have the car engulfed in flames in the end. In my opinion that is the way karma works.

So I was trying to make this writing play out a little longer, but my mind has been elsewhere as of late. Life has managed to butt in and take up more time than I would of liked it too, but I will leave it at this – Karma is a real living-breathing entity. Funny enough, it’s quite simple to have a life blessed with good karma….. Do you wanna know the secret? Be a GOOD person. What’s that ole saying?…… Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be honest. Love truthfully and wholeheartedly. Follow these simple rules and you will undoubtedly have a life full of good karma. And who knows….. it might become infectious

-Ricky G-