For all my workaholic introverts
Find balance or find someone that can wait
I hope you all missed me like I missed you. More than 100 posts in, it makes more sense to speak only when compelled by the music, and I was definitely feeling this one today. Erykah Badu is one of the more prominent musicians in my listening history and this collaboration is one that brought me deeper into the discography of the roots as well. There are so many quotables applying directly to me, that it almost feels like I wrote it, but that just speaks to the similarity of the human experience.
“If something's on your chest, then let it be known (Right)
See, I'm not your every-five-minutes-all-on-the-phone”
“Yo, I'm the type that's always catchin' a flight (Uh-huh)
And sometimes I got to be out at the height of the night
And that's when she flip and get on some old… "Another lonely night?
Seem like I'm on the side, you only lovin' your mic
I know you gotta get that paper, daddy, keep that shit tight
But, yo, I need some sort of love in my life, you dig me?”
All my introspective, & introverted, stressed out people felt this one. Struggling to maintain relationships while not necessarily being the type to talk at length or initiate conversation past whats currently on your mind. Me & Black thought feel you too, you know its all love between you and others, but they may not. Depending on how you deal with all that life throws at you, dealing with life itself is another job, in addition to your actual aspirations.
This goes deeper than just intimate relationships though, friendships, family, even relationships with business partners are affected by an increasing amount of time spent on my craft or business. It is hard to balance, because at the end of my life when I have kids & grandkids, will I tell them that I cant help them pay for school, or build their business because I spent my youth worried about bonds that may or may not have lasted the test of time anyways? Or on the flip side will they be well off, but unable to maintain relationships because it wasn’t modeled to them well as kids? What I carry most from the song is that at the end of the day, Black Thought comes back to his lover when his life has finally settled down and is successful, and his relationship is still available. So no-one can tell me there isn’t a middle ground available, you just have to find it in yourself or others.