More lo-fi. More hip hop. More street beats? It makes sense. Even at this sort of downtempo vibe it is the rhythm of cities. Maybe that’s why hip hop has resonated so deeply now in its many forms in every city on every continent. It may have started in one place, here in New York for example, but it captured something closer to universal. It stands everywhere in defiance to whatever the prevailing culture and rhythm was and found a current deep within all of us. Genetic memory? If human life began somewhere in East Africa then just maybe it is genetic memory. I don’t know anything really beyond what I see and hear. I feel too, but too many biases come into belief when we talk about feelings. I do feel these beats.

The first summer preview dropped in this weekend and came out of a dense morning fog yesterday. We went from zero visibility at sunrise to infinity by noon. It was dank and humid for sure, but it was summer. Not official summer but the real summer that doesn’t care how we measure on our calendars and star charts. It was just bang I’m here motherfuckers how you gonna deal with me hey now you know!

Summer.

Hey I don’t love the heat and humidity any more than anyone else but what can a person do? Just get up and get it done. Make the best of it. Do what pays the rent and do what feeds the head. Drink lots of water and handle your shit. Don’t bitch and moan. Just handle your shit.

And hydrate. It looks like it’s going to be more of the same today. No worries. I’ve been through a fair number of these and I’m none the worse for the wear. It’s okay.

That’s life though, isn’t it. You can’t keep cringing every time something comes at you that you would prefer not to deal with. You may even feel like you can’t deal with it. And maybe you can’t or maybe you can but it’s a sure bet you will fuck up if you cringe. You’ve got no chance of hitting either a fastball or a slow-pitch if you’re on your knees with your head buried in your hands. Odds are it’s not going to be that bad and it hurts a lot less if you just plant your feet and take a swing, even if you miss. It just hurts less to give it a shot, hit or miss. It rarely matters. That’s the whole trick behind all this grown-up shit.

It rarely matters.

You just have to do it. The day could be hot or cold. It could be busy or slow or in between. You may have to face a lot of shit that you would prefer not to, but any day is only so long. Every day has a beginning and thank fuck every day has an end. The simple knowledge that every day has an end is a good start and it’s gotten me through an awful lot.

I don’t expect any hardship today. Some heat and humidity but that doesn’t really count, does it. It’s only hardship when it’s endless and hardship has never really been endless in my life. The Universe might just throw me a curveball today and fuck with my head but there’s no reason to stay inside hiding from that possibility. It will happen or it won’t and that can be dealt with accordingly. Hiding from life doesn’t work.

Anyway, repeat after me: Good morning.