Jason Toney

#resound11: One Word

"Migrating to a higher plane of consequence." - De La Soul, Stakes is High (Amerigo Gazeway Soul version)

Prompt 31: One Word

Earlier this month, we wrote about our one word to describe 2011. Today, let's write about our one word for 2012. What word do you want to use to describe how you will approach 2012?

Big.

In 2012, I want to go big. Love big. Share big. Care big. Real Gs do real things. Big things. I'm entering 2012 with life being very good. It's time to take advantage of my good fortune and hard work and not let opportunities to do big things go by. To commit fully to great ideas, great possibilities, positive changes, exciting projects, soul-fulfilling ideas, and see them through. 

My tendency is to run hot on something in the beginning and then to lose interest/commitment as it goes. This year, I want to see things through to the finish line. If I do...

I understand that when I go big, I can help people achieve their goals and dreams.

 

When I go big, I can help improve the lives of others.

 

When I go big, I can live a life without regret.

 

When I go big, good things come.

 

Stakes is high, y'all, so I gotta go higher.

 

Go big. Get big. Be big. Live big.

 

Let's go!

Posted via email from The Pensieve

#resound11 Today Is All You Have

"I should start living today. Today is gonna be the day." - The Roots, The Day

Prompt 23: Today Is All You Have
It's true, today is all you have, so why not make the most of it? Describe your perfect day, one that you've had this year or one that you'd like to have next year. What makes it perfect for you?

 Drunk as hell but no throwin' up. Halfway home and my pager's still blowin' up.

I wake up just before the sunrise and look over to see her next to me, rising as well. I'm thinking about working out but the bed is too comfortable and then [redacted].

The weather is that perfect spring or fall kinda day. The sun is bright but not roasting us. There's a light but cool breeze in the air. It's warm enough to enjoy breakfast and a good e-book or the day's news (via digital device) outside. It's a light, balanced meal (perhaps a Japanese breakfast of eggs, rice, and veggies or a pastry and some juice) because I prepare to be a glutton later.
 

The location matters not but the day's activities are centered around new adventures. I will see things that will delight my senses and ignite my mind. If I'm lucky, and this is my perfect day so, of course I will, we'll find ourselves making a wrong turn and having an unexpected journey filled with surprises and, maybe, just a little danger. Whatever it is, there will be a story: one I will always enjoy telling and one that will get wonderfully embellished with each rendition.

 

We'll have eye opening and charming conversations with strangers. I'll happen upon someone I haven't seen in awhile and shocked faces, warm hugs, and pleasantries will be exchanged. I'll remark upon how odd it was to run into so-and-so, even though this is my life and that seems to be a common occurrence. But serendipity shall be acknowledged with shock rather than smug expectance which I'm likely doing on the inside.

 

I'll have opportunity to try on funny hats or strike an odd pose in hopes of inspiring laughter. My jokes will hit. All of them. I'll have a few moments of quiet where time will seem to slow to a crawl and I'll be able to look out on the world before me and grab hold of something deeper. I'll recognize some personal truth about this life and feel right in my skin.

 

The meals will be glorious. Lunch will be at some hole in the wall that looks slightly dangerous on the outside but serves spectacular local fare on the inside. Dinner will be fancy and feature at least three magnificent bites of food. We will try street food and declare it our new favorite.

 

It's 11pm now, and for some reason, I haven't tired. Someone has told us of this great night spot that's playing music that we'd love to dance to and, of course, we want to dance. A quick change into my best duds and we're off, dancing and sweating until the lights come up.

 

As we cab home, my phone (battery still full!) is aglow with notifications from around the world. My loved ones are thinking of me and know that I'm thinking of them.

 

Her head is own my shoulder. I lay my head back on the headrest and smile.

 

Today was a good day.

 

Posted via email from The Pensieve

#resound11: Five Things (Honeymoon Edition)

"All the pieces matter." - Det. Lester Freamon, ...and all the pieces matter, Five Years of Music From The Wire

Prompt 28: Five Things
Take today to jot down five memories that you would like to never forget about 2011. Try to write about five things you haven't shared yet, but if you need to repeat, that's OK!

What will be known henceforth as Our Creature Story
The walk we took in Ubud (Bali, Indonesia) in which we found the source of the constant cock-a-doodle doing in our resort (caged roosters), saw cows and monkeys (one chained to a building and several roaming free), got harassed by wild dogs, and I stepped on a dead snake. Then, we arrived back at our villa where the Today gecko squatting in our room decided to be cheeky and poop right in front of me before exiting the room to copulate with another lizard.

The Pool at The Ahimsa, Jimbaran Bay, Bali, Indonesia
[Details redacted]

The Japanese Wedding Party, Jimbaran Bay, Bali Indonesia
In which we ate a wonderful meal of grilled fish, lobster, and shrimp whilst watching a Japanese Wedding party at the adjacent beach side restaurant to ours get increasingly drunk and boisterous resulting in one of their party—probably the groom—getting pantsed in the water...and left out there to the delight of their group and our amusement. It was a clear night, sure, but we had a perfect view of his full moon and stars.

A Cell Phone Swims With The Fishes, Cibubur, Jakarta, Indonesia
In which I am enjoying feeding the fish before our dinner and Tiffany comes to join me. And, just as she drops down to the sea side step, her phone plops into the water. 10 minutes later, it is being rescued by the wait staff and, after a week in some rice, it is mostly working again. She's still using it today. See Also: The Best Meal.

It's A Small World After All, Our entire honeymoon travels
It was both comforting and somewhat depressing to be inundated with so much America whilst being completely on the other side of the world. The depressing? How much America has infected cultures around the world. From Starbucks and McDonalds to cover bands doing American hits and American tv shows syndicated everywhere, if you chose, you could go through Indonesia getting just the barest hints of what the culture is really like there. As was the case, unfortunately, for much of our time in Indonesia, we ate too often at American chains hearing American music.

The comforting part? Connecting with people over the excitement of Barack Obama visiting the country and finding others seeking to connect with us around their relationship to the States. Whether it was the bar manager at the Intercontinental who had spent many years in the states (particularly Atlanta) or our new cousin-in-law who helped translate language and culture to us on the wedding day or even our waiter at the Hard Rock who had visited California before and tried to keep us sauced in stiff drinks to insure we had a "hot Saturday night", those moments of genuine affection and connection with home helped me feel less like a stranger in a strange land and more like a small piece of a much bigger picture.

And you know what the most important moments of the year were already, right?

#resound11: Everything's Going to be OK

"I made it out of all a that but I ain't gonna be proud of that." - T.I., Here Ye, Hear Ye (feat. Sk8brd)

Prompt 27: Everything's Going to be OK
What is one thing, a sign if you will, that has shown you that things will be just fine in 2012?

I don't think I've ever began a year fearful that things wouldn't be "just fine" so I'm not sure why I would start now.

Every year is filled with it's complications and challenges, great and small. The question is always about how you will face them.

Increasingly, I meet them head on. So, if there's a sign that things will be just fine in 2012, it's me.

I still have a short-term memory for the bad, mad, and sad. I stil believe that I can handle whatever comes. And I'm a year wiser.

Why I think 2012 just might be great, though? Because I have fewer blind spots. I know where I can improve my health. I have a greater sense of where I'm headed professionally.

*knocks wood*

And, as I noted in great detail yesterday, I'm not in this by myself.

So, unless the Mayans were right, I expect 2012 to kick serious behind.

Ya heard?

Soundtrack to this post 

• Here Ye Hear Ye by T.I.
• Section 18 (Everything Starts At The Seam) by The Polyphonic Spree
• Everything by Sleater-Kinney
• Everything Is Everything (Acoustic) by Phoenix
• (Theme From) Everything Ends by American Analog Set
• Everythng I Am by Kanye West
• Everything Man by Talib Kweli
• Everything Is Fair by A Tribe Called Quest

 

#resound11: Outro

Prompt 26: Outro
Today, share with us the song you would like to be remembered by. Share with us your exit song.

Is that a little too personal or deep for you? Why not share with us the song that helps you leave 2011 behind and ring in the new year

 

The answer to this question came to me at the beginning of November when Heavy D passed unexpectedly. I doubt I would feel that way today but I hope that when my time comes..."It's alright with me."

Alternate choice? If I had to choose a 2011 track, Amy Winehouse's take on Donny Hathaway's A Song For You is haunting and feels appropriate.

#resound11: All is Love

"Well, baby, I been around the world but I ain't seen myself another girl like you." - Justin Timberlake, My Love (ft. T.I.)

Prompt 25: All is Love
Who do you love unconditionally? Who loves you unconditionally? Who do you love despite their flaws? All is love.

Tiffany B. Brown.

I've had lots of conversations over the past few days, primarily with my grandmother, talking about relationships. Why they last. Why people stay. What is true of the relationships in my family. Obviously, as I'm still in the first year of marriage, that has me thinking a lot about my own.

The woman currently sleeping in the next room is my forever person. I don't know how else to put it. Whatever pet peeves I may have (and I'm going with the President Obama answer for this and saying, "Oh, I don't have one."), she gets me. She rides for me and with me.

She makes me laugh. She fills me up inside. She ignites my heart, my mind, my...

She pushes me in the ways I need to be pushed. She challenges my world view. She reminds me that I'm not invincible, that I sometimes lose, that my rampant optimism must be tempered with doses of realism, and that good times aren't necessarily forever.

She shows me a reality different from my own every day. And, in doing so, proves to me that I exist.

That my actions matter.

That this life counts.

And all of it is full of love.

Soundtrack to this post

• My Love (ft. TI) by Justin Timberlake
• You Are What You Love by Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins
• Love featuring Pharoahe Monch by J Dilla (aka Jay Dee)
• Just As Long As We're In Love by Terry Callier
• Wanna Love U Girl (feat. Pharrell) by Robin Thicke
• Fall in Love by Slum Village

#resound11: Try

"I try to navigate the treacherous waters..." - Talib Kweli, I Try (w/ Mary J. Blige)

Prompt 24: Try
What is one thing (activity, food, career, event, travel, etc.) that you'd like to try in 2012? Why haven't you tried it yet? What makes 2012 the year to try it?

There are a few challenges I'm thinking about putting on my Personal Operating Plan for 2012.

• Write (or, more accurately, blog). Every Day.
• VoluntEAR at least once a month. Every month.
• Take a trip at least once a month. Every month.
• Do something in LA I've never done before. Every week.
• Have people over for food and drink and merry making. Every month.

Next month marks the 10th anniversary of my blogging. That, mixed with how much I've enjoyed getting back into the rhythm of writing with the Resound posts this year has me thinking that 365 days of blogging is the one most likely to happen.

Taking the 30 minutes to an hour in the morning or at night to sit down with some music and an idea is good for my mental health. And, as we move increasingly towards becoming an editorial organization at work, I need the practice.

So, I'm thinking about putting together an editorial calendar for myself (I like the push of the prompts that resound 11 has given me) and just putting finger to keyboard.

I was going to ask if y'all will read me but, honestly, I don't care all that much.

I just like writing.

It's nice to remember that.

"People are you ready?" - De La Soul, Trying People

Soundtrack to this post

• I Try (w/ Mary J. Blige) by Talib Kweli
• We Can Make It If We Try by The Sylvers
• Trying People by De La Soul
• Try by Bugge Wesseltoft and Sidsel Endresen
• Try Again by New Edition
• Give Me A Try by Sizzla
• Maybe God Is Tryin' To Tell You Somethin' by Quicy Jones

#resound11: Identify the Problem

"What else could I say?" - Jade, Beautiful Problems

Prompt 22: Identify the Problem
Today, take a few minutes to ponder that one little, nagging issue that, if solved or eliminated, would make your life better. Perhaps, getting up five minutes earlier would make your life easier. Maybe smiling at that one coworker that drives you crazy would ease the tension. What small change in your life would or could make a big difference?

I don't have an answer to this yet. I'm currently reading Nudge which deals with choice architecture - exactly what this prompt is talking about. I want to make better food choices in 2012 but I haven't yet identified what the small thing(s) I might do to make that better.

It might be as simple as cutting up my Starbucks gold card. It might be stocking my work fridge with healthy snack choices. It might mean creating a disincentive for myself (like every time I get a fast food meal for lunch or dinner, I have to give money to a cause I despise...oh god, that would be truly awful -- maybe that's the one).

More to come when I finish the book...

#resound11: Embrace

"You might think I'm crazy but I'm serious." - Janet Jackson, The Pleasure Principle

Prompt 21: Embrace
What guilty pleasure have you embraced this year? What have you just accepted as something you enjoy and stopped denying it? What do you enjoy that would surprise people that know you?

I don't subscribe to the idea of Guilty Pleasures. There's little shame in my game when it comes to things I enjoy. Yes, I like popcorn action movies like Fast Five. Yes, I still read comic books. Yes, I like pop music confection like Mindless Behavior's Mrs. Right and Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger.

And I hashtag this unironically, #nobigdeal

#resound11: Elevator Speech

"Allow me to re-introduce myself." - Jay-Z, Public Service Announcement (Interlude)

Prompt 20: Elevator Speech
If you had 30-90 seconds to describe yourself (give an elevator speech), how would you sum up who you are? 

You know that thing? That thing that's nagging at you from the back of your brain? That thing that when you're feeling your strongest, you actually believe is a good idea...maybe even a great idea. That thing you've been sitting on. That thing that you let the little haters on your shoulders tell you you can't do. That thing that you convince yourself will be too difficult. That thing you're too scared to try because you'd rather wonder if it's good or not than risk failure.

You know that thing? Well, I'm the guy who can help you take that first step. I'm the guy that will remind you that anything's possible. I'm the guy who sees the best in you. I'm the guy who will provide clarity and sensible advice when necessary but is more likely to remind you that you kick ass when the going gets tough.

I'm the guy that believes humans can slay dragons.

I'm not your life coach. I'm your life cheerleader.

I'm that dude.

ding.

This is my floor. Let's go.