'Nothing Even Matters'

'Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing'- Oscar Wilde

Andy was an assistant to the Editor-in-Chief at 'Runway' magazine. A Northwestern grad and journalist hopeful, Andy walked into the offices of the most notorious fashion publication with an invisible blindfold: her inexperience paired with no couture conscious and no idea who the heck Miranda Priestly, the Editor-in-Chief, was. To call her clueless would have been an understatement. Nevertheless, Andy was resilient and after a tumultuous first few months of insults, cold-demands, and snobby snickers from the 'beautiful' (and skinny) people, she finally got it.

Andy started to adapt and overcome- she put on some Jimmy Choos, cut her split ends and grabbed the reigns and made the best of her envied yet demanding position. Fetching lattes while walking a dog and picking up a sirloin-steak, all before 3pm were just small hurdles compared to the enormous payoff Andy foresaw as a result of sucking up the grunt work. The assistant to the Editor-in-Chief would lend itself to limitless opportunities in the publication world...if only she could just keep her skin-thick, her heels high, and Ms. Miranda Priestly happy, of course.

And that she did.

In spite of being overwhelmed, Andy was resilient. After laborious hours of catering to Miranda, being on-call, and late-nights, Andy had reached the peek of her career-year while simultaneously hitting a low-point in her social life. Every ounce of her being now revolved around Miranda. Her boyfriend was now second to her job, and her friends were next after Miranda's personal errands. While Andy's relationships suffered, her reputation at Runway, blossomed. Andy was selected to go to Paris for fashion-week with Miranda-which ultimately slighted the 'first-assistant,' Emily, who was literally starving in preparation for the opportunity. Emily's quality of work became unfavored in the eyes of Miranda and Andy had now taken her place. Andy had a choice-forfeit the opportunity of a lifetime for the sake of goodwill to her co-worker, Emily, or go to Paris as if she (Emily) was never in the equation. Although Andy was empathetic and meant-well, getting-ahead was now a priori. Her career above all, including personal feelings. So, off to Paris Andy went.

And then she made a realization.

After seeing Miranda get served divorce papers by her neglected and resentful husband and a loyal co-worker undercut by her, she had an epiphany-Andy did not like who she was becoming. In a limo ride chat, Miranda expressed to Andy that 'she saw herself in her.' Andy realized right then and there that she did not value the same things that Miranda did. Conniving others, being a bad wife and heartless woman was not who she was. Andy was doing what she needed to do to advance her career-yet, her character was diminishing. Andy lost focus and quickly saw that the life she was being warped into was not one she envisioned for herself.

So, Andy quit.

It didn't take very long before Andy realized that her choices and new career were out-of-sync with the desires of her heart. 'Runway' didn't even matter anymore. Turning her back on the Chanel collections, fabulous freebies, and the cold-couture lifestyle, was easy. Andy went back to who she was- the small-town girl who had a passion for writing, valued friendship with indifference to image-with an upgrade in her style.

As I watched the conclusion of 'The Devil Wears Prada,' I asked myself: how often does this story happen, in real-life? How many of us who somehow lose focus of what matters most to us? We become career obsessed, money-hungry, or simply take for granted the foundational people in our lives that will be there if our job crumbles like old-cake.

Like Andy, some of us are able to redeem re-evaluate and re-establish what matters most to us without completely losing it. Unfortunately, others continue to underestimate what's most valuable which results in loss. Balance is the key to life, yet many of us have so many different keys and are trying to unlock so many doors that we neglect the most important one.

I'm constantly evaluating if my choices are in accordance with my priorities. What and where shall I place the things on my list? What matters most? These questions are imperative, especially when it comes to living a balanced life. From personal experience in neglecting important people, I've realized I must make a conscious effort not to get so wrapped up in my 'gypsy-life' that the people or practices that helped make me who I am, suffer. My list of 'what matters most' looks like this:

1) Faith in God

2) Family & Friendship

3) Love & Happiness

4) Knowledge

5) Growth

6) Making Positive Change

7) Inspiring Others

Like Andy, we all have neglected at least one thing on our priority-list. But, that's alright-as long as we get back to that list and act accordingly. Everyday we have a million-and-one things that we have 'to-do' that probably have no association to what we deem most important in our lives: no real connection to our goals, dreams or family. We must remember that whatever we choose to devote our time, energy and thought to are value judgements.

So, before you embark on a career choice, new challenge, or even a small party-ask yourself this-

What really matters?

808's & Heartbreak-Review

'I'm a problem that'll never ever be solved'

-Kanye West

808’s & Heartbreak is far more than a rendition of Ye’s innovative sound, or controversial commentary: it’s a product of his heartfelt experiences: and it’s amazing.

The first listen to 808’s & Heartbreak will make you feel like a tourist being thrown into the Amazon rain forest, without a map. You will wonder ‘where the hell am I?’ And Ye will sadly respond: 'Welcome to Heartbreak.' Shock and confusion is what the new listener will experience, as Ye’s jungle can be bewildering at times; but amazement will prevail when the terrain becomes more familiar. You will have to get used to the new sound-but once you are, it quickly taps into the emotional core and an addicting yet depressing, Hollywood motion picture sound quality is revealed. Kanye has been a little cold and even brash on past hits (Can't Tell Me Nothing), but never this… sad. Nonetheless, the throbbing ache permeates throughout the entire album with a cinematic elegance. Ye seemingly borrowed Mr. Holland’s Opus, the Daft Punk dudes, and kidnapped a few Morris Brown drum majors and threw them into his pot of inspiration on 808’s & Heartbreak. The strong presence of synthesized voice seems like a guise which Ye explores to get the hurt out-yet, that ‘Yeezy’ factor is there. It’s unlike a typical ‘baby, baby please’ R. Kelly plea or the classic ‘Dear Mama’ ode as achieved by Tupac; but only the way that Mr. West delivers. And it’s unlike anything you will ever hear. Ever.

The mash-up of drums, synthesizers, singing and sadness are what gives method to the madness of 808’s & Heartbreak. Ye delves into a neglected emotion that he never fully explored on 'The College Dropout,' 'Late Registration,' or 'Graduation:' heartache. While all three albums maintained metaphoric and animated flow with tracks that tell his stories, boasting of victory, (Through the Wire) conscientiousness (Diamonds) or just plain 'Good Life,' Kanye's art always reflects his life. As we all know, life isn't always fun, fabulous and fresh-and 808's & Heartbreak is his testimony. He makes you feel his pain as he croons and speaks of his mother’s death in a synthed out, numbing rhythm on ‘Bad News.’ The production seems more emphasized as the track contains a lengthy break between lyrics and Ye let’s the beats linger on- like his pain.

A vision of Kanye sitting in a studio at a soundboard, depressed, warping away at a song in a confused daze is what may come to mind.

‘Heartless’ infuses rhyme over heavy bass, light flutes and a profound, sing-songy auto-tuned chorus. Ye goes through the motions of a shorty stomping all over his poor heart while attempting to maintain some manly pride in lines like ‘you need to watch the way you talking to me, yo.’ The hard-drums and TV-static on ‘The Coldest Winter’ are hard-hitting with a very melancholic feel as he morbidly sings a farewell to his mother: and maybe even his ability to love.

The overall sound is like a doomed journey. From the Jurassic Park quality of ‘Amazing’ where calm tribal-click-clacking, a soft piano with Young Jeezy’s signature ad-libs (that make him sound more Aztec-Indian warrior than dirty South rapper), to the dramatic-overpowering-woman who tries to strong-arm Ye, emphasized by sounds of robotic movements and heightened by symphony violins in ‘Robocop.’ It's hilarious hearing him compare 'the baddest girl he ever seen' to a killing machine- who's 'up late night like she on patrol' (It can only make you wonder about Alexis). Combining unusual sound qualities such as strings with gun blasts and Tyrannosaurus Rex noises makes for a surreal listening experience.

The cosmic-collegiate teddy bear persona went full fledged grizzly, especially on ‘See You in my Nightmare’ where he and Lil' Wayne lick their wounds and annoyingly growl out at the women who hurt them.

This album most definitely deviates from the fun-time, skirt-chasing, youthful Yeezy. He morphed his trauma into triumph amazingly.