PSYCHOLOGIST: Hello, I’m your psychologist. I’m here to talk to you today with a journalist about why you call your mind a human mind reserve. Can you explain to us?

PATIENT: My mind is a human mind reserve. It’s a place where people come who want to save their mind from extinction.

JOURNALIST:  So basically you believe your mind saves other minds from what you call mind extinction. Do you think that’s abnormal?

PATIENT: Listen! There’s a method to my madness.  The method is to say the “craziest” shit to inspire someone to create genius shit!

JOURNALIST: What do you mean by that? Give me an example.

PATIENT:  Look! Not everything is to be understood. You look at an abstract painting by Jean-Michel Basquait, can you interpret this? Let me ask you two questions. Are you a journalist?

JOURNALIST: Yes I am.

PATIENT: Are you writing about me?

JOURNALIST: Yes I am.

PATIENT: My point exactly!

Journalist gives a puzzled expression and writes in a notebook. Psychologist reaches for a manilla folder. Patient takes a mind interlude.

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PSYCHOLOGIST (opens manilla folder): Do you know anyone else who has the mind of a human Mind Reserve?

PATIENT:  Several.  Most are categorized as crazy. Very few are recognized as living legends. Many become legends after they die. I cannot give out any names. All you need to know is I ask questions that people think they don’t have the answers to so they can find the answer, create the answer, or simply say, “Forget what you think, this is what I believe and I will die for it! Period.”  These are thoughts and characteristics that are endanger amongst the masses. I taint with egos and the idea of right and wrong.  You want to know my trick?

PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes please share, what’s your trick?

PATIENT: You see the key is to appear to always want to be right which pushes people to challenge me to be right or wrong. When in all actuality I believe in neither. I believe in the story.

PSYCHOLOGIST: Do you think it’s wrong for a child to hit an adult?

PATIENT: It depends on the story.

JOURNALIST: Do you think it was wrong for whites to have slaves?

PATIENT: It depends on the person’s story.  “Blacks” had slaves. Was it wrong for Martin Luther King to believe in non-violence? Was it wrong for Malcolm X to believe in violence? Is it wrong for people to walk around with Confederate flags? Is it wrong for people to walk around with rainbow flags?  Was Huey P. Newton wrong to rape and beat Black Panther members who came to his apartment after they helped release him from prison? Was it wrong for my father to take me from my mother? Listen to the story. The mistake is when we classify an idea or belief in something as right or wrong.  Let’s stop tying our minds to those chains of destruction.

JOURNALIST: So you think that if there was no wrong or right in the world everyone would be happy?

PATIENT: Our beliefs are based on experiences of another person or ourselves. It is how we use words  that divides us. I’ve had conversations with people and never used the words wrong or right but the minute I begin to challenge them with questions it turns into this idea of me wanting to be right and thinking I’m better. Why didn’t the person initially acknowledge the act of me asking them questions as a gesture, a kind act, an awesome way to inspire great thoughts? It is because we have lived in this system that has trained our minds to divide us between two words-RIGHT or WRONG. You are interviewing me because society has trained your mind to believe that people are “crazy”. So basically if it weren’t for me you wouldn’t have a job. So you work for me. I am your boss. I tell you what to do. (Pointing to head) The Human Mind Reserve is a place where people come that want to save their mind from extinction.

PATIENT (smiling): Welcome to The Human Mind Reserve.

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Soul Survivor Sunday is about stepping outside of a comfort zone. It’s about getting comfortable with uncomfortability and finding home in a community that might not necessarily be your own and telling various stories of the people and what they have overcome. Think about how many times we’ve heard the statement, “Their story inspired me.”  Think about how many people we say hello and talk to on a daily basis. We’ve all had a mountain to climb.

The one thing I’ve known to be proven true is people’s stories inspire and motivate others. I’ve had so many conversations that I wished I was able to capture and share with someone else. We all have different ways of sharing our story; painting, athleticism, song, dance, cooking, etc. but I think about the thousands of stories that go untold every day. The one thing I’ve known to be proven true is people’s stories inspire and motivate others. I’ve had so many conversations that I wished I was able to capture and share with someone else. We all have different ways of sharing our story; painting, athleticism, song, dance, cooking, etc. but I think about the thousands of stories that go untold every day. Perhaps they never shared because they were afraid of being judged. Perhaps they left the earth and never left anything behind. If thousands of stories are going untold then imagine how many people are going uninspired?

Sometimes people don’t feel like their life could influence someone else. And I believe at the end of the day we all want to leave something behind to someone. As much as I would love to tell everyone’s life story from beginning to end I am unable to but what I can do is take a small piece of their life. Whether it be a sit down interview, a conversation, or just a blink. If you give it to me I’m going to write about it. I would say this section is like the book of the bible Chronicles. Chronicles only focuses on the good things rather than the sins or the bad things. I am only interested in the person’s successes, not their failures. This section is about reminding all of us where we came from.  Sometimes people don’t feel like their life could influence someone else. And I believe at the end of the day we all want to leave something behind to someone.

“I’m like a photographer that stands on top of a building and takes a photo of the neighborhood in order to capture the beauty of the sunrise and sunset. If you were out and about in the neighborhood at the time the photo was captured, chances are you are in the picture.”

–Excerpt from my Facebook post January 13, 2017. 

Message: Your Story is My Story

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I’ve been told that I’m hard to read. I agree. It’s hard to tell what I’m thinking or predict what outlandish thought may develop in my head and exit through my mouth. Yes, I’m unpredictable, so what? Of course, that’s so much easier for me to say today than it was back in my elementary school and high school days.

Back then, I was quiet and held back on a lot of my thoughts. Why? Because when I did speak up, no one truly understood my words. As a result of them misunderstanding me, my thoughts were immediately classified as disrespectful or mean.

A good example would be when I stood up in the middle of class and yelled across the room at my 7th grade teacher who found the need to tell me my interpretation to a story she assigned us to read was wrong. At that moment, all I could think was, “What gives her the power to be right and make me wrong about my opinion?”

It was just like that time on Sway’s morning radio show when Kanye West yelled, “You ain’t got the answers!”

You see, when you’re passionate about your feelings, and are frustrated with others misunderstanding who you are, it will build up inside of you. Then one day, it will manifest through a major action, and people will judge you again, based on that one big action. We can get deeper into that another time, but I’m sure you get where I’m going. If you don’t…just turn on the news, and then read my statement again. Here, let me help you out by saying it again:

When you’re passionate about your feelings, and are frustrated with others misunderstanding who you are, it will build up inside of you. Then one day, it will manifest through a major action, and people will judge you again, based on that one big action.

You see, the best way for me to express myself has always been writing. Mainly because I didn’t have to deal with direct judgement and people’s confusion about what I was trying to say. Everything made complete sense when I wrote it. I’ve written letters to physicians who said I inspired them. I’ve landed great jobs because of my writing. I’ve won awards and have gotten accepted into great schools because of my writing. But I’ve always asked myself, how can go beyond that?

Many people may be wondering why I am going through all this – blogging, explaining who I am, etc. – as opposed to just going to get my now completed manuscript published and selling the damn book already! This project is the reason for my existence. I say project because the book is just a tiny aspect of my vision.

This project gives me life, and I know it will give life to others. It goes beyond getting published. I view the exchange as a heart transplant. As research explains, a heart transplant is not necessarily a cure for heart disease but a treatment that can improve the quality of life for its recipient. I’m not claiming my written words to be 100% perfect and healing of what’s broken, but I am most certain that they will improve the quality of life for their recipients.

WHO AM I? I am a heart surgeon, and before I go out into the world performing operations, I must make sure people know WHO I AM through my words.

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