It’s a honest question—and it’s also a lyric from rapper Drake’s song, “Own It.” What can I say, Drake was a hot topic for me today.
I’ll tackle the Drake part first. I like Drake. Any more questions? I kid, I kid. When friends and I found out Drake was coming to Portland, we managed to score excellent seats to his show. I’m talking 10 o’clock from the stage, front row. Yeah, we lucked out! Considering that my friend and I actually flew to San Diego a few years ago to see him perform (since he wasn’t coming to Portland), we were psyched that he was coming to our city and that we got such good seats.He was supposed to kick off his tour back in September, but it got moved to December. Bummer but I wasn’t too upset about it because 1) September was a CRAZY month for me. Remember the dream job I applied to? It was taking over my life (because I wanted it to.) 2) It gave me a chance to listen to his new album and gear up for his concert.
Then, on Sunday, in a casual conversation, my friend mentioned her Thanksgiving plans and how right after Thanksgiving we had the Drake concert, so the week was going to go by really quickly. Hold up. Wait, what? Did she say the Tuesday after Thanksgiving was the concert? (She did.) I’m going to Orlando for Thanksgiving, flying back that Tuesday night…the same night and time as the concert. Oh. Boy.
Being the seasoned traveler I am, I started looking up all of my options. No standby was available on my ticket (and considering it was Thanksgiving, I knew that it would be impossible to get on a flight and an extremely risky option). A new one-way flight cost more than my round-trip, so that was out of the question. And there were no alternative airports I could fly out of/in to that would get me back for a reasonable amount of money. (I even looked up airports near the cities my friends were roadtripping to that weekend to celebrate with their families–no dice.) I finally came up with a solution (buy points to supplement my existing balance, buy a new return on points, cancel the original return and get credit and all within a reasonable dollar amount) — so I’ll be back for the Drake concert! Woot woot! But the best part about my day was a conversation I had with my coworker when discussing Thanksgiving plans:
Coworker: Where are you jetsetting to, Miss Sejal?
Me: I’m going to Orlando for a wedding. Should be fun! But I’m in a bit of a predicament. A concert that was supposed to happen in September was rescheduled to the day I’m flying back, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and I literally just realized this two days ago.
Coworker: Oh man. That’s a bummer.
Me: Yeah, and it’s an artist I really like. It’ll be fine. I’ll figure it out.
Coworker: What artist?
Me: Oh..umm (not knowing if she’d know who he is, she’s a coworker who is always a little maternal to me–she’s older and has two children of her own, a highschooler and a eighth-grader–and she doesn’t swear, ever.)…it’s a rapper. Drake.
Coworker: Oh, I LOVE DRAKE!
Best moment of my day. I was guilty of judging a book by its cover. At least now I know so the next time we’re in the car together, I can bump Nothing Was the Same with her 🙂
So, that’s what brings me back to right now. I just booked my ticket and I’ve been listening to my Drake playlist, getting amped up for his concert, when that line stood out to me. The way he uses it, it’s more of an accusation towards someone who is stuck in their ‘same old, same old’ and he’s calling them out on it. But when you look at it on its own, and this is the way I read it, when was the last time you experienced something for the first time? I bet if you thought about it, it could have been today, but that’s only if you thought about it. How often do we really think about our actions and what we’re doing and savor and absorb the moment? I’m going to start looking for the “first time” experiences in my daily life–I’d love to hear about yours, too.
