As I am filtering through the mounds of feces on the internet I often come across potentially ATETRAKS worthy material. This time around, I find myself bopping to Binary Star and diligently searching for an art form or an image that summarizes my state of mind. As the track Reality Check begins, the beat fills my brain and I suddenly come across this:

Artist: Linda Joy (Drexel Universtiy)

As it sits on my screen, I initially find myself feeling naked. Holy shit, I think that’s me. So there I am, identifying instantly with multiple aspects of the piece. First, she is obviously a broad, which if my anatomy serves me right, I happen to be one also. Secondly, her feminine demeanor and lack of clothing joined by high heel shoes are characteristics that define the female sex.  Standing there on the stage of life, with the curtains drawn,  she stares straight into you with an emotionless face. Her face shows no sign of anguish or discomfort and I realize that it is because she has become so accustomed, so utterly conditioned to bending over backwards.

What inspired this post was the mere fact that regardless of gender, culture, or nationality…there is one thing that many of us are guilty of. That fact is that many of us glide through reality with the idea that we are supposed to fit into some magical mold. We often have internal battles over what our innate passions are or about our individual purposes. In doing this injustice, you bend over backwards for shit that doesn’t matter and for shitty people who are often intimidated by the potential that you, yourself fail to acknowledge.

Having been raised in a academically psycho atmosphere, and majoring in biology for Christ’s sake… had truly convinced me that I had only one real path in life: Get the M.D. after my name and get a real job that makes a lot of money. However, by denying the truth (that in fact, I have many paths) I felt as though I seemed less scatter-brained and unfocused to my competition and my peers. This made me think of my other passions as silly expenditures of priceless time that could be spent finding shit out like… the effects of intracellular protein alterations on mitochondrial DNA. (!!!)

What the fuck.

Although that initial path is still one that I plan to follow, there are things other than science that I have finally come to accept and I can stop bending over backwards in attempts to make myself into something I’m not so sure I am ready to be just yet.

So this week I come to you with a reality check. Humans are beautifully complex organisms with one trait that makes us pretty dope animals.

OUR BRAINS. We are really good at thinking. So put your life in perspective and spend a long hard minute on how YOU see your life. If everything is upside down, if your spine is throbbing and there is too much blood rushing towards your skull then YOUR SHIT IS NOT WHERE IT SHOULD BE. Don’t hesitate to acknowledge your short-comings and your strengths. Just make it so that both assist you in getting to where you want to be.

Stand up straight and keep it real.

My number one policy is quality.

Never sell my soul, is my philosophy.

-Binary Star.

-Dr. Sanchez