Greetings friends! As our old friend and colleague, Cliff used to say, another week, another Beat…. It is hard to believe we are at it again with another beautiful, insightful, stimulating, powerful, and truly amazing one of a kind publication for you readers. Our latest double issue, 27.15/16, packs plenty of writings that we are sure you will truly find uplifting and hopefully inspiring pieces. Maybe you will pick up a pencil, grab a piece of paper and become a part of The Beat Within community. If you are new to The Beat, thanks for trusting us, there is a place for your story as a writer, poet or artist. If you are a veteran writer, we cannot thank you enough, our doors are always open.
Before we pass the keyboard over to our dear friend, OT, we do want to take this moment to acknowledge all you contributors who help make The Beat Within a success! We say success, because what other magazine comes out every two weeks? What other magazine gives you this one of a kind platform to share and weigh in, regardless of where you are today? Our magazine touches many lives, not just the incarcerated, but many young and old in the free world too. As far south as Louisiana, speaking of we welcome back into this issue Rivarde Juvenile Hall in Harvey, Louisiana. Who recently sent us some writings and the beautiful art featured on our cover. Also, The Beat reaches as far east as New York, and as far west as Hawaii, and as most of you know, all over the state of California. We also want to welcome to our pages one of our newest community workshops, the TAY Navigation Center in the Tenderloin, in San Francisco, CA. Over the last month we have been meeting with these amazing residents running groups, and in this issue we feature their initial writings! All right, plenty of good work done and to be done… Thank you all for being a part of this wonderful journey, 25 plus years and counting, The Beat Within. Now here’s OT!
Welcome back readers to another double dose edition of the one and only The Beat Within! This is OT reporting live to you from the land of grand lakes, and quakes, the one and only rich soil of Managua, Nicaragua. We just had a 6.8 earthquake the other day and boy did that make me jump off my bed! Sheesh!
First and foremost, I hope when you all read this missive that you are in the best of health mentally, physically, and spiritually. Easter just passed, (and as a Northern California sports fan) The Warriors just eliminated the Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs, The Giants baseball team is winning, and well, football season is slowly creeping up once again.
I’m not going to beat around the bush and waste any time and I will get straight to my message. Well, first off, I haven’t had the best month so far. I know I’m about to sound ungrateful but sometimes it just feels like life keeps applying the pressure on you and it feels as if the weight of the world just bares on your shoulders. I don’t know if you guys ever felt like this before, maybe in the past, maybe you do right now, and if you haven’t felt this type of pressure before, I believe at some point or another, every single human will eventually feel like this:
The pressure, the stress, anxiety, depression, sadness, anger, madness, resentment, etc., it feels as if though your world is crumbling like the last few oatmeal cookies in the cookie jar. It feels as if your world is in a tailspin, going in circles plummeting on the way down like an airplane nose-diving, leaving you with no time for reaction. Sometimes it feels like you have no one on your side. You may feel desperate.
Many things could contribute to all these feelings. It doesn’t have to be necessarily one thing. It could be a combination of various situations taking its toll on you. Maybe, your living conditions are not well. You don’t have a home. You have nowhere to go, you’re struggling to make ends meet, your job is stressing you out, you’re having problems with your girl/boyfriend or husband/wife, you’re having problems with your family, your mom, your dad, or the hood is stressing you out. You’re tired of being harassed by the police and you keep coming back to the system. Your friend, loved one, family, or relative is sick.
The list of problems in this world can just keep going. Look at the war in Ukraine. Look at how many people have died for no reason. Mass graves are still being dug up in multiple towns. There are stories of innocent people getting killed by Russian soldiers, missiles hitting regular apartment complexes, shhh there was even a big warehouse where the Ukrainians spray painted in big letters “CHILDREN HERE,” and Russia still send a missile there.
Just imagine all this pain, all this death, all this hatred, all this resentment. The stories I read, and see on many different news channels bring tears to my eyes. On the reals. I see it, I read it, I feel the pain, but I still cannot put myself in those shoes.
I watch the news and in the U.S. there’s always someone somewhere in some part of the country trying to shoot people for no reason. I see the active shooter alerts and I wonder why all the hatred? We all have problems, but why take it out on people that don’t even know you?
Problems, problems, and mo’ problems. Well, I’m not going to get into any specifics, but I have challenges right now that I must confront. I have problems. I have self-doubt sometimes and I don’t know if I feel like I can overcome them.
The weight of the world is sinking on my shoulders, but there’s only two options. One: I can fold and run away from my problems because I can, literally run from them. But should I really shy away from all my problems? Should I be a coward and run from my responsibilities and take the easy way out?
Or option number two: I can front them head on. It won’t be easy. It will require a lot strength, courage and most importantly uncertainty of what might happen. What do you think? What would you suggest?
Honestly, it shouldn’t even be a debate. I shouldn’t even think about option number one, but honestly, we all have done it before, at some point in our lives. That’s what leads us into putting ourselves in situations that we don’t like, and in even worse, sometimes in situations that we can’t get ourselves out of.
Frankly, I’m done with running away from my problems, so I only have one option left. I’m gonna go ahead and confront them head on. I’m gonna look at all of them in the face, because it is more than just one problem. There are many, and each root of the problem branches out into several more, but I’m gonna go ahead and remain solid and tell them to bring it.
I’m not gonna give up that easily. I’m going to continue to smile even when I’m not happy. I’m gonna continue with a positive attitude every day, because I refuse to succumb to the negative energy that surrounds me. Someone else maybe going through something even heavier than me, and that person may need an ounce of inspiration, and I’m gonna go ahead and let them know that like Bob Marley says, “Everything’s gonna be alright.”
Everyone is going through something. Many of us are going through the struggle we call life. I want everyone to overcome their challenges and claim victory against the adversities that life throws our way. So if I want for you all to succeed and excel, then I have to keep it solid, and do the same and lead by example.
So, in times where despair may find you, or depression, or self-doubt, and the problems just seem to pour on you like hail in a December snowstorm, you must find the strength to keep it pushing. Look for inspiration from within, but don’t be afraid to turn to someone that you can trust and ask them how they deal with their adversity? Don’t keep it to yourself.
Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from a loved one so they can give you ideas on how to remain positive, focused and on track to overcome your goals. ‘Cause really, at time when we may feel alone, there’s always someone in your corner that you can count on for some sound advice. That could be your cellie, your cousin, your nephew, your mom, your counselor, a true friend, anyone.
We’re all fighters. We’re all warriors. But battles and wars are won as a whole, not as an individual. It takes a village to raise a child, so it takes an army to raise a soldier. It takes a team of nurses and doctors to perform a lifesaving surgery, and it takes a team to win a championship.
It’s hard to win in life. There are plenty of people losing and there are plenty of people winning. Keep those on your side that want you to win, and see you succeed. We all have different and similar problems but remember we’re not alone. We’re all one.
One love for everybody going through the struggle. When life gets tough, get tougher! Rise up! Don’t stop! One love! OT is signing out with the utmost love and respect to all of you ladies and gentlemen. And The Beat keeps going and going…
Thank you, OT, for your inspiring words. Whatever it is you are going through, we hope you will use your advice to get through these tough times. Also, please know, we are here for you.
Beat readers, we look forward to seeing most of you real soon, but if you are moving on please know you can stay in touch with us too. Stay writing your pieces and send us a letter! Give us a call! We encourage you to keep us posted, stay connected, as we mentioned earlier, there is always a place for you in our pages. Sending you all our best!