A Wise Empathetic Hedonist

We have everything we need.

We have everything we need and the ability to create or source whatever may not be in our possession.

It’s all there.

I don’t know if I really have 1000 words to capture what I feel like right now.

Feels more like something you just have to experience for yourself.

———

I talked to my brother today.

His energy was good.

It seems he also has been overcome with a “hell or high water” attitude towards creation and I want to explore his mindset further.

For as long as I can remember my brother has been creative.

My earliest memory of him is when I was roughly 3 years old sitting on his bed looking at his rhyme book.

Thinking about it, my brother is actually more hip-hop, more true to the culture than most if not all of the rappers put in front of our faces these days.

I truly feel that.

Best put, the true essence of what hip-hop is supposed to be is completely captured by my brother’s spirit.

Thinking of my brother, I think of someone who only ever wants to bring… relief into your life. Relief from whatever it is you may be going through, whatever it is we’re all going through.

I think the only times I’ve ever seen my brother in bad spirit or upset were the moments in which he brought pain upon the ones he loved or knew he wouldn’t be able to ease the pain they were going through.

And I know more than anything, he would never intentionally bring pain upon those he loved.

I have an older brother who never, never ever beat me up growing up.

Even in the instances in which I probably deserved to be beat up, my brother has never laid a hand on me.

My brother wants nothing more than to make everyone laugh, make everyone dance, make everyone just feel good.

The universe itself knows this about my brother. It directs people his way. I watch it happen anytime I’m in his presence.

A very simple casual greeting turns into strangers pouring their heart out to my brother, discussing the pain they’ve been dealing with, the heartbreak, loss, stress, the weight of the entire fucking world bearing down upon them and them being faced with what feels like no exit, no chance for relief.

And somehow without fail, every single time, my brother at least points out the exit sign if he doesn’t walk them to the door himself.

It’s something I find myself a little envious of sometimes.

———

I revel in pain, I seek it out, it’s my catalyst, I’m curious to know how much I can experience, at what point do I begin to feel it versus where you begin to feel it, how much pleasure will I derive from it?

Let’s endure some pain so we can feel good.

My brother is the opposite.

Let’s enjoy ourselves because pain may come.

And when it does come, he will be the one to navigate you through it. To restore the enjoyment.

I don’t know if that’s how my brother sees himself.

I don’t think either way of thinking is more or less right than the other.

There’s probably a middle ground we should both find.

I think the middle ground is probably in creation.

I think in creation, we find a mutual understanding of each other’s ethos. Or at least what I perceive to be his ethos.

Not only that, but I feel in creation we both are able to communicate, to express, the beauty we find in our lives. The beauty between the pleasure and the pain.

The longer I sit on the thought the more I see it displayed in our actions.

Empathy.

I think that’s the biggest difference between me and my brother.

I could certainly stand to be a little more empathetic.

I think my brother has boundless empathy. I think that’s why he’s able to show people the way to relief.

Like… a wise empathetic hedonist.

Able to put himself in your shoes and understand your pain but knowing exactly what it takes to nullify that pain.

That’s honestly the most hip-hop shit ever.

That’s R&B, that’s blues, that’s jazz.

Above all that is high art, that is beauty.

Beauty transcends all.

———

As stated, I think my brother is the epitome of hip-hop. If my brother didn’t rap, he would still be the epitome of hip-hop as long as he retained the same character.

Hip-hop is a beautiful medium to create in because in its purest form it is pain relief.

It’s the acknowledgment of pain, the acceptance of it, the accommodation of it, and then the appreciation of its relief.

I think anybody worth their salt as a rapper understands this.

I know my brother understands this because that’s simply him.

Nothing will ever change that about him.

He’ll only ever master it more and more as he ages, as he experiences more life, as he watches his children grow.

I think now more than ever there is a need for my brother’s presence in hip-hop, in the world in general.

A universal communicator.

A wise empathetic hedonist to heal us all.