[Third in a series, to show my appreciation for New Day Slang]
Do you know the meaning of
flawless? It is hard to know the meaning of something which you have never experienced,
particularly if it does not exist. I felt this way until about four years ago, up
until the day I learned this phrase: You Ain’t About That Life!
As with most things in life, we
learn of them through a negative lens or interaction. Someone was claiming
moxie that was a bit extra and one of his confronters told him, “You know you
ain’t about that life”. Two things make this phrase flawless, at least for me:
(1) its meaning is clear; you do not need a dictionary, a thesaurus or your
neighborhood hood dude to decipher; and (2) it covers both spectrums: the
positive and the negative, hence the phrase does not need to be reframed.
For a clear exposition, check
out this filmmaker (Carl H. Seaton) whose work I recently enjoyed:
I will now use the phrase to
make a sweeping generalization: none of us are about that life, any life we
are claiming. Most of our life is just pure hogwash, fiction. Seriously, what was
your last original thought? Tell it to me and I will google it and show you it
was created centuries – or more – ago.
Of course we should not set out
to recreate the wheel on a daily basis. We should model ourselves, our careers
after someone, some category. But, imagine that every thought you ever have had, you read or heard somewhere! Slowly each day you chose the script you are
acting: comedy, travelogue, Dilbert, the number 752, or being one of the great
ones.
See, I can follow and be about
that life, “the great ones”. It comes down to your own truth, your passion.
If we can acknowledge that - at minimum - 90% of the life we lead is fiction, then
we can jettison the false bravado and just focus and be about that true life:
Being a great one!
Two More great ones
Above I introduced a filmmaker
making the works that try to set us on the right path. Along with him, I now
link you to two others who need your support as they tell your story. Visit
and “LIKE” their page on Facebook.
wilkie cornelius,
director of single hills
Ava DuVernay, director of middle of nowhere