Today is the day.
I’m 44. Yeehaw.
I’ve been hitting this Gemini season vibe for a few weeks now, and it’s finally my turn to flex.
Also, this is a palindrome birthday.
What’s that?
“Palindrome dates are especially notable because they are rare. For this reason, they are believed to be lucky.”
Why does it matter? For many it probably doesn’t.
For me, well, I’ve got a hunch that this is going to be a truly transformational year. Not just because I want it to but because the zodiac has got my back!
Truth be told, I love being a Gemini.
I know we tend to lean into our superstitions, highlighting that which serves our narrative.
For me, being a Gemini has always been a clever way to explain away my duality.
My frantic nature.
My need to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
All tied up in a neat bow.
Honestly though, I haven’t been shy about saying this, but I feel like it should come as no surprise that I’ve come to this day with the levity and sparkle the last 10 months have provided.
Also, how the fuck did I let myself adopt this idea that I should do less when from the zodiac’s perspective I could only fail in that pursuit?
Good riddance to bad ideas!
At any rate, I’m taking some liberties today with this edition of Ground Control.
After all, it’s my birthday and my newsletter, so journey with me.
Here’s to Ambitions
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for any amount of time, you know I’m a man in the throes of overthrowing assumptions about how to be and instead returning to my natural state of doing too much.
And thriving in it.
The truth here is that there is definitely a “doing too much” mode even for me.
How am I managing that?
By breathing, recognizing that this is a decision, and moving through it anyway.
You see, I can’t know what it means unless I expose myself to the brunt of the experience.
Someone said to me the other day, “how are you doing so much?” to which I replied, “by only giving any given project as much as it needs.”
Let me explain.
I think we often heap too much effort onto the pile without qualifying the ROI we receive for said heaped effort.
I firmly believe that effort should not only be commensurate with what we have to give but also with what we stand to receive in return.
Sometimes those returns are monetary.
Sometimes those returns are celestial.
Sometimes those returns are a pleasant feeling in our gut.
That’s the one I’m most concerned about at this moment in time.
I’m here for me, doing what works for me.
Each night, I lay down next to my beautiful wife, with the knowledge that my three beautiful children are near, and ask myself, “Was today what you wanted?”
With unanimous assurance, I answer back, “fuck yes.”
A year ago, that wasn’t the case.
A year ago, I was crawling in my own skin.
A year ago, I was a shell of PK (that’s me; middle name is Kelly).
Today, I’m more of the man I’ve always intended to become.
And perhaps more excitedly, I am 100% JUST GETTING STARTED.
El Futuro
Today also marks edition #24 of Ground Control.
As I sit in Ceremony Coffee, sipping the first of two Cortados, writing this to all of you, the gratitude is unending.
When I started this project in January, I knew that it could grow to become something truly special.
The things that I’ve learned over the last six months have been astounding.
I can truly say that the evolutions you go through, that I’ve gone through, are just that: evolutions.
It’s funny because I think we always assume that we have some idea of what process means; until we get into the process.
And before long, start to pull back layers we didn’t know we were wearing. We start to reveal truths we’ve been in search of without realizing they had been missing.
When I started this, I wasn’t sure what its purpose was aside from sharing my ideas.
I knew that I wanted to evolve my thinking. I knew that I wanted to build new things. Businesses. Relationships. Conversations with myself.
And it’s been glorious. Truly.
One thing that is not lost on me is how special it is to have you reading these words.
That you were willing to take the time to sign up and stick around. To read these ideas and occasionally respond.
Means the world to me.
For that, I gotta say THANK YOU!
While this newsletter occasionally hits hard on the entrepreneurship and business chatter, I’m crystal clear on that not being the only tack.
It can’t be.
For me, Ground Control is so much more than that. I want to make sure that you can always tell there’s a human here.
Wrestling these words out of my skull for me, but also for you too.
What an honor.
Is This Thing On?
I’m pretty stoked to roll out the Q2 recap next month and report on all of the things I’ve accomplished over the last 90 days, but specifically, there’s one thing that I need to present in that report that I haven’t launched yet…..
So here goes.
I have spent my entire life as a fervent musician.
I write songs, beats, avant-garde compositions, and everything in between.
This has been in my DNA for as early as I have memories and is inarguably the most important metronome that drives my thinking.
That I’ve left it on the curb for twelve years (publicly speaking) is perhaps the greatest travesty I’ve committed.
No longer.
Tonight, I’m going to start publishing music again.
This is a Birthday Present to me. But hopefully to others as well.
It’s funny because I have dozens and dozens of songs and compositions that are ready to go; the hang-up has been how to go about it.
Do I publish under my name? Some old moniker? It feels like a big decision.
My concern is that “Patrick Rife” the google-able entity is very much an established business dude.
My old monikers? Just that; old.
So instead, I’m going to start publishing music under the name Monumental City Sounds.
Why? Well, for a few reasons:
- “The Monumental City” is a historic name for my city, Baltimore. I love this place, and I’m of this place, so it seems obvious.
- I make a lot of different types of music, and I don’t want to have a million different personas. Monumental City Sounds feels like a name I can be adventurous under without worrying about stylistic barriers.
- I think it sounds cool.
- There isn’t, to my knowledge, any competition for that name.
So, yeah, I’m cracking the bottle.
Christening the vibe.
The jams should be available everywhere you can stream. I’m going to announce and share once things are live on my Instagram. If this is of interest, you can follow me here.
Endless, Nameless
Y’all, I just want to say it one more time.
Thank you.
I appreciate you, and your support is amazing.
If I can return the favor, please let me know how.
Until next time.
This is Ground Control.
Patrick
LinkedIn Posts
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Extremely Grateful: Techincal.ly story on Baltimore Creators
