A.D. Wright's Blog, page 4

The theory of body awareness: how we get fat

Have you ever noticed getting fit takes concentrated effort while getting fat seems to happen while we sleep? When our mind is distracted with the day to day stresses of our life, we forget about our body’s functions, needs and potential. In short fat people think fat and fit people think fit.

Throughout high school, I was on the cusp of being short and regular height. So, I avoided weightlifting – just in case the myth that lifting weights can stunt your growth turned out to be true. Convinced that my growing days were over and elated to be 6-foot-tall, I began lifting weights at the end of my senior year. About three months into working on my glamor muscles (arms, abs, chest), I experienced my first involuntary muscle spasm. At that moment, my mind became awakened to the potential of that muscle. From that day forward, I was able to flex my chest/pectoral muscles at will and working out became a little more fun.

Last year, I joined Eating for Abs by Coach Be, a program designed to help us think about our eating choices more consciously. The beauty of this program is that it not only forces us to look at our daily habits, it forces us to measure our body (the effects of our decisions) in a myriad of different ways. Moreover, while learning the techniques to become fit physically, we inadvertently learn how to become fit mentally. We begin to actively think about our own fitness.

Today, I uses soreness as a constant body awareness reminder. For example, after a great ab workout I am consistently reminded of all the functions my abs play in our daily activities. Every time I reach for something, laugh, or yawn my mind and body have a conversation. When I look in the mirror and am able to independently move muscles/muscle groups, I am again conditioning my mind to remember my body’s functions and potential. This body awareness ultimately increases my mind’s awareness – a topic that is bit beyond this post but covered in meditation blogs.

If you haven’t experienced body awareness, give it a try. It may lead to amazing things. If you have, tell me about it.

Black does not mean Poor

Do you know what Liberals, Republicans, non-profits, activists, Black people, White people, rappers and racists of all colors have in common? They use Black and poor interchangeably, especially when referring to “Blacks” receiving aid of any sort.

I first noticed this phenomenon when talking to some of my quasi-militant Black friends about gentrification. They lamented, “the White people are pushing all of the Black people out!” At first, I didn’t think too much into it – to most people that phrase is the very definition of gentrification. Then, the thought popped into my mind. Is it gentrification if high income Blacks moved lower income Blacks out of their neighborhoods? Yes, it is. Gentrification is not about Black vs White, it is about Haves vs Have-nots.

Shockingly enough, those who wish to help “Black people” often aid in spreading the negative stereotypes. According to census data, more Whites are considered to be in poverty in America than any other minority, but the media and non-profits tend to only stress the higher percentage of the minorities in poverty compared with their smaller population. [Stats of poverty by Ethnicity] The same is true for most of the other “social ills” that seem to only plague the minority community.

Why is this important? It’s important because perception has an major influence on reality. Many Blacks of varying incomes appear to have an omnipresent chip on their shoulder – feeling pressured to defy or conform to an expectation that doesn’t really exist. For some, it is a motivation to go to college, get a great job and spend lavishly on luxury to prove to the world that they “started from the bottom. Now they’re here.” For others, it is a reason to quit while they’re behind and adhere to the imaginary status quo – whatever they believe that to be. In reality, most Blacks started somewhere near the middle and they are still there. Unfortunately, the ever growing Black middle class is often as ignored as the White poor.

My adolescences was influenced by The Cosby Show (ended in 1992), A Different World (ended in 1993), and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (ended in 1996). The generation, now quickly reaching adulthood, is being influenced by _______. I’ll let you shutter as you fill in the blank.

The New Metaphoric Motivation (watch with headphones)

The Power of Obsession

The Power of Perseverance

Week 2: Kicking the habit

I won’t say the week was a total loss but I can’t exactly call it a win either. This week, I learned that I am much more addicted to television and mainstream society than I thought. Let’s start with the losses and end on a more positive note with the wins.

Losses

McDonalds had a two egg and cheese biscuit for $3 deal… I indulged twice
I only read one chapter of one book this week
I watched a lot of television with the sole purpose of being entertained
I only exercised twice
I only meditated once
I did not write at all

Wins

I talked with a marketing research consultant about my current work and my career
I read my one chapter in a local bookstore/cafe and met like-minded reading and writing enthusiasts
I watched a TED Talk that inspired my writing
I re-watched Malcolm X and took notes on character development, parallelism, and plot devices.
I was retweeted by Deepak Chopra and Spike Lee
I started a promoted tweet campaign to test out the effectiveness of the service.

In order to kick an old habit/addiction, it is best to create a new one to replace it with. I don’t think it’s the activity I am addicted to – I think it’s the routine. I’ve been coming home from work/school and immediately turning on the TV since… I was a child.  I guess it’s time for me to put away childish things. The Master needs to create a routine of mastery.

Day 7: From where I am to where I want to be

On Day 4, I went to the library and borrowed four books on an array of topics to help me on my quest.

General Marketing Strategy
Guerrilla Marketing Strategy
Yogic Lifestyle
Storytelling

It’s now Day 7 and I’ve read one chapter of three of my books respectively and I’ve not touched the fourth. I’ve learned a few things:

I know more than I thought I did
There is so much more to learn
I need to create an environment that fosters success

This week, I ate out for lunch everyday only went to the gym on Day 6 and today, Day 7. On a positive note, I read one of my marketing books at the local Starbucks and had a great conversation about relationships and astrology signs with one of the employees. Sharing experiences and conversing with different people are valuable assets for all three of my disciplines. Today, I went shopping at my local grocery store (which kinda sucks) and bought cleaner healthier food for this weeks lunch.

My yoga book deconstructed the disciple into three components:

Physical – The moves and the breath
Spiritual – The philosophic lessons and meditation
Lifestyle – Ayurveda or holistic living

Luckily for me, I’ve studied basic Ayurveda on my own, learn transcendental meditation in a class and have a Yoga X dvd. I’m totally unfit and will be eating and going to the gym to support my ability to perform the lifestyle and physical aspects of yoga from now on. I will also resume my twice daily meditations.

Next week, I will read more of my yoga and marketing books while taking notes.The reading of my storytelling book will most likely begin at the end of the week.  I feel hopeful about the way I’m spending my time. I no longer feel like my days are drifting away from me – wasted. I’m one week closer to becoming a master.

Becoming a Master

On January 25, 2011, I wrote a post about becoming an accidental expert. I wrote it more from a theoretical perspective. I didn’t really think I was becoming an accidental expert in complacency and ignorance like the people I was hoping to reach. I did exercised on occasion. Hell, I even did yoga every once in a while. The truth is, I get sucked back into the “normal society” just as easy as everyone else. I don’t want to be an outcast even if it is the key to success. An academic success without social success and vice versa is a failure. I was not actively accomplishing either. I was watching television and being social without purpose. I’m sure it served some purpose, but whatever that was, it did not drive me forward in anyway. It was a cycle of mediocrity that had I not decided to change, would have definitely continued more and more unnoticed into my disappointing death.

On May 4, 2013, after being at job after job of fulfilling work and day after day of feeling like I am capable of so much more, I decided to take my own advice. I decided to dedicate my life to mastering yoga/meditation, writing, marketing. After picking the three things I am most interested in, I realized the sheer luck and accidental brilliance of my choices.

I am a natural introvert and extremist so I worried that I would focus on the academic side and ignore the social side. I didn’t want this ideal to ruin my current relationships. So I learned how to be social while secretly mastering my three choose disciplines. When I watched TV with friends and family I was taking mental notes about plot and character development. When I watched commercials I was thing about marking behind them an the estimate cost of this media buy.When I was in social situations, I would use aspects of writing and marketing to better understand the motivations of the people around me. Instead of my usual being self absorbed or easily distracted, this practice turned me in to an active listener – a skill everyone would benefit from.

Becoming a master while at work was going to be more difficult. I didn’t have a job that was directly in my field but luckily for me it wasn’t completely off either. I was a New Media Coordinator for DC Public Schools. Basically, I copy and pasted content into a Content Management System all day. In late February, I volunteered to assist with the school level marketing and student recruitment efforts. Please allow me to take you a brief tangent to provide background. At this time DC Public schools were hemorrhaging students for a variety of easily debatable reasons – one being increased competition from charter schools. Our grossly underfunded department was tasked with accomplishing this a brand “facelift” for DC Public Schools.

Before May 4, 2013, this task was a huge burden. After, I saw it as the petri dish to my self experiment. I would practice my writing and marketing by actively looking for ways to improve their content strategy for their website. I started researching effective low budget marketing strategies and tactics. At times when focusing on one task became overwhelming, I would do something less exhaustive but still purposeful even if indirectly. I got creative and found ways to unwind with purpose. I went to great lengths to find value in the things I was already doing e.g. watching TV and listening to music. I discarded the things that could not find valuable e.g. drinking to the point of being drunk and eating food that did not further my yoga.

This is a journal of how I became a master of yoga, writing and marketing without almost anyone noticing.

Day 3: A Creative is Born

Yesterday I hung out with a former college classmate.We laughed and talked over wine and cigars and began talking about our aspirations. I told her about this Mastery Plan and she immediately understood. On the spot, we decided to began planning a new business – Griot Creative a digital media and marketing consultancy. We pledged to hone our skills and begin building our company portfolio. I wonder if this is how Morgan and Stanley started?

Today, I asked the Chief of Family and Public Engagement at DCPS for a brief meeting. I explained to her that I had an epiphany and wanted to become an expert in my field. I offered to take on any marketing related responsibilities and asked that I be held accountable if I wasn’t exceeding expectations. As you can imagine she was surprised with an impressed smirk. She agreed to my terms and thanked me for my current and future efforts.

I had planned to go to the library after work to check out books on the essentials of my three disciplines. Unfortunately, I ate something that definitely did not further my yoga and paid the price of mild food poisoning.

You live and you learn.

Day 1: Climbing in the Wagon

I knew this day was going to be a struggle. Whenever you start something – its a struggle. The first thing I did after creating this blog was clean up my living and working space. If you are going to become a master, you must first master aspects of your life – like you living and working spaces. Does this space hinder or help my achievement? How can I make my life more efficient?

Step 1. Make life efficient: Make a plan and create routines.

I did this with the understanding that the plan would probably be altered several times before getting it right.

I defined my mastery. Is it possible to master he vast subject of writing? Do i need to master something smaller within writing like mastering writing young adult fiction. Do I even know enough about yoga to know what to master? What is yoga exactly? What is marketing? I have a bachelors degree in it and I couldn’t even narrow it all down to a sentence. I needed to research what I’m mastering so I can accurately define my goals.

First, I went food shopping. Then, I looked for online for articles, books and documentaries to teach me the basics of each of my three new disciplines.

That’s it for day 1.

Why are teenagers abandoning social media sites?

It’s a simple trend. As social and entertainment media increases, attention span and message effectiveness decreases. Instagram and Pinterest are so popular because as the old cliche says, “a picture says a thousand words” — in seconds.

“Old” forms of social media e.g. Facebook and now Twitter involve both writing and reading. Two annoyingly time consuming tasks for the overly stimulated and caffeinated youth. The generation currently in their teens expect to passively absorb short blasts of data in a visually stimulating form. This unstoppable trend makes traditional marketing and advertising increasingly difficult, especially for complex or non-intuitive products.

Today’s effective advertising has to be extraordinarily memorable. The AT&T ads with children saying the “darndest things” are cute, hilarious and easily repeatable. The Cheetos and Heineken ads which depict quick scenes of vividly colored weirdness accomplish the same goal by unhinging the comfort of the viewer.

This deviation from traditional marketing creates an upside for small business entrepreneurs — Weirdness and hilarity in short blasts don’t necessarily create insurmountable costs.

Due to the scarcity of resources during the brief decline in the American economy, guerrilla and grassroots marketers became experts at creating this type of ad for mere pesos. The creatives who were once masters of street level advertising can now be elevated to the corporate boardrooms to lead the thinking on how to capture a new generation.

We are in an exciting time. The creative idealistic Davids now have a fighting chance against the traditional cronyistic Goliaths. May the best mind win.

Why Black people need their own version of ‘Kung Fu Flicks’

Aside from being highly entertaining, the Kung Fu movies that became popular in the early 80′s provide the watcher with lessons on life, history and most importantly on the significance of family, culture and protecting ones community for the future of its survival.

In the quintessential Kung Fu film, a man is wronged by an unjust government official or a foreign invader. After losing everything and possibly becoming injured, he stumbles upon Buddhist monks who teach him how to free his mind and defend his body. He reads the Buddhist scriptures and learns martial arts – think of Rocky IV but his coach is a priest and his gym is a church.

After training for a short time, the main character is often overzealous and decides to take on the bad guys before he’s ready. After getting beaten and embarrassed, he learns to let go of his rage and pride. This is when his more advanced training begins. With a new found impetus, he learns the deeper meanings behind the words of the scriptures and the moves of the martial art.

The movies end with our now beloved character ousting the tyrants and becoming a legendary Chinese hero. In many of these films there is a final scene where a wise man explains that China means “our land” and must always be remembered and continue its greatness.

In 90 minutes, we have learned about ethics, teamwork, perseverance, charity, courage, altruism, Buddhism and Chinese history. We are inspired to fight evil and keep our bodies pure and fit. Best of all, we were unaware that any of this was happening. We thought that we were watching an exhilarating action movie – silly us.

Why is this important?

In America, cash is king but perception is prince. Negative self image plays a major role in the many social ills that plague Black Americans, especially those with low income. This image, born in slavery (1619 -1895) and cultivated in decades of second class citizenship, has become internalized and projected onto the unsuspecting generations ever since its inception.

This feeling of inferiority, found deep in the subconscious, motivates some to “prove” themselves while motivating others towards self destruction. Both are trying to find an escape from the nagging demon in their reactive mind. Since Americans equate cash to class, the Black person who proves him/herself by acquiring money is perceived as the upper echelon of the lower class. The major downside of this value system is if/when the proven person losses his/her money, the status disappears with it. It is the difference between being rich and wealthy.

How Kung Fu flick-like movies can help

Our History. Our Land. Our Future.

These guiding principles have lead China to become a superpower and can lead Black Americans to greatness. By embracing the values expressed in the classic Kung Fu movie and rejecting inferiority and individualism, the Black community can create an actual Black Community. This community no longer needs to be in a physical place that can be attacked and destroyed like Greenwood Oklahoma’s Black Wall Street in 1921. It can be a virtual network of people with a common image and purpose.

Django Unleashed partially served this purpose. It incorporated many of the themes of the Kung Fu flicks of old with one major difference. Django was motivated by the love of his wife. A Chinese hero would of have been motivated by the greater good for his people. This difference in motivation is similar to the difference between an individual being temporarily rich and a family becoming sustainably wealthy. The theme of “I do this for us” is essential for changing global perception and negative self image.

Maybe one day the color of a man’s skin will be no more important than the color of his eyes. Maybe the ideal of a post-racial society will one day be a reality, and the need for a strong Black Community will be unnecessary. Until then… Our History. Our Land. Our Future.