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You Ain’t Gotta Lie to Kick It.

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You-aint-gotta-lie-to-Kick-it

“You ain’t gotta lie to kick it, my n-gga/You ain’t gotta try so hard…”
—Kendrick Lamar, You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said)

Man. Hold Up.

Let your Drunk Auntie–and by ‘your Drunk Auntie,’ I mean me–dissect this for a minute. We say phrases like:

  • Fake it til you make it.
  • People will believe whatever you tell them.
  • Fame is in the follower count.

“You ain’t gotta lie to kick it!”

This was something we used to in junior high. It was our way of gently calling each other out when one of us was boasting a few too many stories. And, it was our a way of proclaiming allegiance to an unpopular opinion about something. Think: My mama buys me Payless shoes. I ain’t gotta lie to kick it!

Now that I’m older, I see it all the time. The demeaning “power quotes” about being a boss that shade employees. Photos of exotic vacations complete with fancy cocktails and luxury jewelry. And of course, it’s all hashtagged with #MyLife #DoingMe #Blessed #Boss.

Seriously, stop this.

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Thug Motivation 101: Just Start. Again.

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Just-Start-Again-Flow

So I’m writing this as an addendum to Just Start. It’s the middle of January, which is the time when we start moonwalking back into our same ol’ routines after promising big things for the new year. We start projects and we stall on them three weeks later, even if we’ve got the best intentions. Taking action on something doesn’t mean it will get completed, or even pass the napkin-planning stage. So what do you do when you’re ready to ‘show up and show out,’ but you can’t find the Muse or the motivation to start again?

I STRUGGLE WITH THIS PROBLEM A LOT.
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On Feeling Like a Creative Fraud

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YOU ARE A STUPID,
BIG, FAT PHONY.

And so am I. But we know in our hearts it’s not true.

Feeling like a creative fraud is a mother. And, as an artist, you go through periods of where you feel like a big, fat phony.

It’s times your fingers hover, paralyzed over the keyboard. Times you stare at the blank void while creative mojo seeps from your fingertips and on to every place but its pre-determined target. Times when ‘love is a battlefield,’ and you’re on the ground, wounded. Times you’re physically unable to create because you know, for a fact, that you’re a creative fraud. A hack, even. You don’t believe you’re a real artist. Who would believe that?! You most certainly don’t believe it. You just ain’t 2 Legit 2 Quit.

Don’t believe the thought, though.
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