DISCLAIMER: This post has nothing to do with NFTs. I don’t have a turtleneck yet, so I can’t start giving out financial advice.
There’s a recent TikTok video/trend (excuse the profanity) that I’ve been seeing, and I swear it had me in stitches.
Anyone who has ever lived with me knows that I’m a mad man. I’ll be pacing up and down my living room or talking to myself at 2am. To you lot I’m weird but I know what I’m doing. In my mind, I’m at the Jimmy Kimmel show prepping an answer to “How does it feel to be the first UK spoken word artist to win a Grammy and have sold-out shows all over the States?”. These times I don’t even have a single on Spotify.
Night-time is such a weird place. With the absence of light, disturbances, and human interaction our mind begins to wander to places our bodies wouldn’t dare to go. Forging a multiverse of identities in which we one day hope to live in or are just too timid to bring to fruition.
The ideas that come from 2am: the dreams, the hopes, the business proposals, the life plans, etc.; are out of this world. Literally. But we don’t take them out into the real world due to fear and possibly the realisation of reality. The burdens of work, the pressure to provide for our families, and the endless barrage of responsibilities make it hard to take these dreams into our real lives.
Let me give you an example – and please no one should come and kill me for this.
I’ve grown up in church my whole life, so there’s one tradition that never escapes me: summer youth camps.
Every couple of years, young people from all over the UK congregate together in one strange part of the country to “grow in God” or “be in fire for Christ” or whatever slogan the leadership team want to slap on. When we go to these national youth camps (no shade but) guys will come and cry their eyes out, rededicate their lives to God, swear that they’re leaving their old life, and then leave the camp and go back to the same stuff after a week or two. Like bro… you couldn’t even last a month? And that’s because life comes to grab them by the singlet and you forget everything you cultivated in the past week. It’s because you believed that the “state” you were in for that week was a momentary phase, not something you should stay/live in.
You must live in a constant state of 2am.
That sounded better in my head. But what I mean is that you must be adventurous in the daytime and not just at night. Dream without fear, believe without limits, faith without borders. Do not create a world in your mind that you’re too scared to physically live in.
If you think about it, we are kind of like Batman (still haven’t watched the movie). Nerdy-ass billionaire by day but ominous crime-fighting vigilante by night. BRO PICK ONE. Or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (only real ones know this movie). The story of a man who tries to veer away from fantasy and edge towards reality with every choice he makes.
Stay in a state of 2am. With your jobs, responsibilities, and families, keep the same boldness you have at 2am into the rest of your life. I don’t mean for this to be one of those empty motivational speeches but follow those dreams and don’t let the reality of life come and kill them.
That’s why I say I prefer the nighttime. That’s when everyone shows their true self. At night everyone comes alive. Guys who were doing up “city boys” way before it was summer are running from their corporate offices to Powerleague. They’ve got their Hypervenoms in the same bag as the report due tomorrow morning to live in their dream of scoring 90th-minute screamers at the Bernabeu to secure the Champions League trophy.
Be your 2am self. Don’t let the daylight kill your dreams.
But one must find a balance. Some of my best and worst decisions have come as a result of indecisiveness but also a lack of patience and thought.
As I grow older I’ve learnt to follow my dreams but not to give up on my responsibilities without hesitation. A small bit of 2am motivation and now you’re drafting up a resignation email to send to your line manager. Beloved, let’s be guided.
I only want to encourage everyone to not let the reality of life stop them from being bold. The idea of being “realistic” stops so many people. Keep dreaming and I can’t wait to see what all my 2am babies do.
Sidenote: Very soon I’ll start messing with these NFTs… once I find out what they are.
Love, Peace, & Blessings
Abs.
'Do not create a world in your mind that you’re too scared to physically live in.' WHEW- a word!
Soooo good!!👏🏾👏🏾
Honestly, this post encouraged and humbled me all in one breath!😂 It was the “beloved” line that got me… hmm we have heard🙇🏾♀️🥲