Would You Rather?

I was having this internal debate with myself a long while ago...and so I bring that same debate I was having with myself over to you. I forgot what triggered this debate...but essentially I asked myself...would you rather be deaf or blind if you had to pick one. And it's something I struggled with going back and forth between. It made me think of life in like the most intricate but also the most simplest aspects. Like being blind you can't see...little things like seeing the clouds, seeing the sun rise and set. Seeing faces, colours, all that stuff. Little things like walking become more of a difficult task. Reading, having to learn braille...or even like playing basketball, everything in life has to be modified so you can use your other senses. Having to use things like audio books or having to listen to shows and movies. I thought of like so many little things that we do naturally and don't really think about. But then...being deaf, not being able to hear and have proper conversations with people. Having to learn sign language, read subtitles on shows and movies. Your friends and family having to learn sign language as well in order to communicate with you. I literally struggled to decide which of the two I'd choose. And please don't get me wrong as I'm not trying to make light of either of these things. If anything, it really made me value life...and the little things...being able to wake up in the morning and see my parents, hear them tell me to sleep earlier and all that stuff. I dunno, what do you think about this? Is there one you'd choose over the other?

Guest Writer #33: Young Gerald

#1: SpeakingMyMind 

#2: Letters To You 

#3: TC 

#4: Anonymous Queen B

#5: Someone You Used To Know 

#6: Heartlocked 

#7: LG Slayer 231 

#8: TC

#9: G. Ho 

#10: Golden Frieza 

#11: Ghost Writer 

#12: Pink Precariat

#13: Disconnect 

#14: Daniel 

#15: Golden Frieza

#16: Someone You Used To Know 

#17: Yellow Rose 

#18: SpeakingMyMind

#19: Heartlocked 

#20: My Best Friend

#21: Free Spirit, Wild Heart
#22: Inner Self 

#23: G 

#24: Nuji 

#25: Broccoli 

#26 

#27: Dak 

#28: Carmom

#29: Mike Bibby 

#30: B.C.K. 

#31: WG 

#32: Mike Bibby 

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Why can't y'all recognize

That we all came from sacrifice?

If you know the reference, you are a real one lol. Anyways, I guess this is a response/continuation of Rod’s recent post: Embrace Your Singleness 2. To me, life seems to be all about making sacrifices. From something like “do I sacrifice an hour of sleep for an extra hour of videogames?” to sacrificing 4 years of your time for a “prestigious”, “recognizable” piece of diploma, a lot of times we are forced to make decisions because time is so finite. The question that begs then, is “are the sacrifices worth it?”. Obviously, this is a subjective question. What is the best decision in a situation depends on different contexts, and the individual’s values too. I mean, think about it. After spending 4 lengthy years in school, heck some graduates are still unemployed. Is it worth it? To some, they might say no, because having a degree didn’t get them a job. To others, they might say yes despite being jobless, for the theoretical constructs they have learned, for the experiences that have transpired and prepared them for adulthood, for all the valuable friends that they have met throughout. For myself, sometimes I really don’t know if my sacrifices are worth it or not. You know? Working hard, getting promoted, saving up for a car, a house, and starting a family, blah blah blah. Am I sacrificing for myself? or my family? Sure enough, money is a crucial aspect of life. But there are also so many things money cannot buy, like time, experiences, long-lasting happiness. I really wish there is someone who I can share my life with, someone who is also willing to share their burdens/struggles with me. Ultimately, someone who will make these sacrifices worth it. But unfortunately, that is just a part of life that you can’t control. I remember a friend once said something to me along the line of “if someone leaves you at your worst, he/she doesn’t deserve you at your best.” Needless to say, I am beyond thankful for those who chose to stick around in my life. Those who have supported me in my struggles, those who have believed me when I didn’t believe in myself, those who have reached out with a kind heart and loving encouragements… I will never forget it. Life might feel lonely and real difficult at times, but those who love and care for you will always give you meaning to keep living.

Put the hours in, put the work in

Swear I try so hard to be perfect

But sometimes, it feels like a burden

Cause I still ain't crap but a person

8 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Hey friends...wow, 8 years. I don’t think I’ve ever been this dedicated to anything in my life. To think I’ve almost been doing this for a decade. It’s funny cuz I was having a conversation with my barber and he’s like yo can you see yourself doing this for the next 10-20 years. And I hesitated, cuz to be honest I wasn’t sure. I don’t wanna get too deep into that topic...but for now, I just wanna enjoy the ride. If it’s meant to end somewhere down the line, soon or later...then at least we’ll have all this time we’ve spent together. But yeah some bts for you guys lol, so this photo was taken in the span of 2 shoots. Finished the first shoot and didn’t like how it turned out so went back again the next day and finished it up. Shoutout to my friend for helping me both days. But yeah I’ll post the ig caption along with both pics.

“Hey friends...wow, 8 years. I don’t think I’ve ever been this dedicated to anything in my life. To think I’ve almost been doing this for a decade. It’s funny cuz I was having a conversation with my barber and he’s like yo can you see yourself doing this for the next 10-20 years. And I hesitated, cuz to be honest I wasn’t sure. I don’t wanna get too deep into that topic...but for now, I just wanna enjoy the ride. If it’s meant to end somewhere down the line, soon or later...then at least we’ll have all this time we’ve spent together. But yeah some bts for you guys lol, so this photo was taken in the span of 2 shoots. Finished the first shoot and didn’t like how it turned out so went back again the next day and finished it up. Shoutout to my friend for helping me both days. But yeah I’ll post the ig caption along with both pics.”

Embrace Your Singleness 2

Here's the original version I wrote in 2015
Embrace Your Singleness

I was talking to a friend and she said something to me...she told me that "singleness is a gift". Which inspired me to write about this...and the more digging I did, I found an old post written in 2015...it's interesting to read how I felt about this back then. But it's kinda the same thing you know. How can you be all in to take care of somebody else when you yourself aren't even in a right state of mind. How can you take care of somebody else when you can't even take care of yourself? Often we say that love and relationships are a gift...but so is singleness. Honestly tho, who here enjoys their alone time? I cherish my alone time...just being able to be by myself, in my own thoughts and just relaxing. So it's not really about finding the right person, sometimes it's about building yourself up and taking care of yourself to be the right person for somebody else, y'feel? Especially seeing a lot of my friends in relationships...I see how little free time their have as individuals because they are always spending time together....not only that but they hardly have time for friends. Now I'm not saying that once you're in a relationship, there goes your free time and say goodbye to your friends...but essentially it's another piece of the pie that has to be split. Imagine if your time is split in half between family and friends...introduce a partner and that takes your time from halves to thirds meaning less family for your family and friends in order to make time for your partner. And of course pieces can shift and you might end up taking even more time from your family and friends and giving it to your partner meaning the pieces won't be evenly divided, you get what I'm saying? I think what I took from it is that with a relationship, comes a lot...a lot of sacrifice, a lot of commitment, a lot of time and a lot of effort. It's not all holding hands, date nights, hugs and kisses and all that...it's hard work...and that's something I don't think a lot of people realize when they get into relationships. So cherish your singleness guys...and girls, you might miss it once it's gone lol...or not....haha till next time, peace out.

From The Heart #3

From The Heart #1
From The Heart #2

Figuring Out Life
Hey friends, where all my 90's babies at? And I mean like early 90's babies, those of y'all hovering around your 20's...are y'all here? Are you reading this right now? Your mid 20's are such a weird stage I swear...it's a lot of figuring stuff out and a lot of transitioning. For me, it's about change...but it's about the little changes here and there. That is until I was watching this one vlog and this guy talking about the change that happens in your mid 20's. He was like from your 10's to your 20's the amount of change that occurs is extreme...physical, mental, emotional...there's so much change that occurs from your 10's to your 20's...so much visible and concrete change...you get taller, your voice gets deeper, all that stuff. Then he went on to say...if all that change is happening from your 10's to 20's...imagine all the change that is happening from your 20's to 30's, whether you realize it or not...how you handle problems, your maturity, your priorities, all that stuff. He was saying how by 30...you should hopefully have some sort of goal or vision figured out...and I fully agree with that. Like as much as people move at their own pace and such...I truly do believe that by 30 or at least around 30, you should have at least a rough sketch or idea of what you wanna do or some sort of goal you wanna achieve...otherwise you have no direction in life you know. That's not to say you have to have a masterplan and every next step well thought out and planned...it's saying you should have at least a good idea of what you wanna do and how you plan on doing it, right? I don'r wanna put a cap or a ceiling on myself by saying like oh by 30 you have to have something figured out, you have to know what you wanna do or where you;re going in life. But at the same time I want to...because if you don't, it creates laziness and a lack of motivation. It's kinda like when you know there's no deadline for a project, so you loaft on it, whereas when you know okay boom this essay is due on this day...you can at least grind it out the night before, but all the days before that you're thinking about it, it's on your mind, you're stressing about it...because there's a timeline to meet. I don't know about you my fellow 80's babies...but a lot of my 20's thus far and especially after graduating university has been trying to figure out life, trying to plan out my future BUT also trying to trust God and reminding myself that he has a plan for me. That all this confusion, uncertainty and stuff is part of his plan, part of what faith is. That's all I really got to say for now...see ya soon.

Confessions Of A Bully

"A bully half my life, bullied the other half
That really weird kid you used to point and laugh
But I grew up, barely avoided being a screw ip
Working on the dreams that my mom and dad drew up"
- RT

Who here has been a bully raise your hands? I sure have...I've been a bully but I've also been bullied...as the verse I wrote above suggests. Man when I was like in grade 4-5, I was a mean kid, I was a rough kid...that's why I always say younger Rodmond would beat up today's Rodmond hands down LOL. I remember just picking on and pushing kids around for the fun of it...cuz I enjoyed instilling fear in people you know. Walking around and people backing away...their fear gave me a sense of comfort and assurance...but it was only assurance in my own weaknesses. Man, I remember some kid was eating fruits from a plastic container and he finished it and put the container on the sie during recess. I saw it...kicked it to the ground and stepped on and it broke...this kid was crying and yelling at me and I just laughed, damn I was a horrible kid. I remember stealing this kid's pen and he cried and told on me and I threw the pen in another girl's desk and I didn't get booked for it LOOL, man I was terrible. But I've also been bullied before too...my "friends" laughed at me cuz I liked to stay inside at recess and play yu gi oh at one point in my life. There was a point in my life where I'd never get picked to play tag or to play red rover and when we all put our shoes in to decide who would be it, they'd never let me play. Trust me...I've been on both sides of the coin...and am very familiar with both. It's a big reason why I ass a person today...I love to encourage people. I think of the old saying sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me....sometimes words cut deeper than any physical abuse could ever do. But back to the encouragement part...I feel like this blog...in a sense is somewhat of a source of encouragement, at least I hope it is...for some people...maybe experiencing similar things or can be inspired or encouraged by my words. It's also why I love being around younger kids so much...cuz they're such a joy to be around (most of the time)...they're living, breathing encouragements for me...seeing them grow, mature, love and take care of one another...I love it. And part of the reason why I'm so big on encouragement is because of my experiences...as a bully and as the bullied. It's made me who I am...being able to understand both sides of the same coin. But yeah, that's all I have for now...see you soon, peace.

Emotionally Driven

So I’m a very emotional guy...clearly LOL. I think I wrote about it before...or a lot...who know. My friend once said that everything inside of me is like emotionally connected...whereas when something bad happens to me, my whole system like shuts down because everytning is emotionally connected. But that’s besides the point for today’s post. I was reading a Post Malone interview and he said that emotionally intense songs are the easiest to write and he was referring to his song “I Fall Apart”. He said that when you’re sad, upset or feeling something, you have so much to say. And that reminded me of this blog...how whenever something happens or I’m going through something, those posts are the easiest to write because they happen so organically and because I have so much to say. And the days I’m rushing to put out content or loafting on putting on content, it’s usually cuz nothing’s happening in my life. That’s kinda the story of this blog lol...especially when I go back and read old posts and am able to tell what was happening and how I was feeling and sometimes I can feel the emotion I felt as I was writing that post as well. Are you the same way? I know a lot of friends who are the opposite, very calculative and in a sense lacking emotion. But it’s a good thing in a sense that they don’t get attached very easily and it also means they don’t get hurt very often, but yeah that’s something entirely different that I can go into. But yeah, sorry about the short post today, I’ll see you in a bit, peace!