making one of the first water filters for heavy metal ion removal,
using the delicate, eloquent fabric from mother nature herself,
is one of the most difficult things in my life.
it’s one of the most challenging things for any renegade.
doesn’t matter the age, country, religion, etc.
r&d cycles take kinda forever.
they’re inconvenient, and i get frustrated, including others.
this wears us down, and stops the intrigue, and progress ends.
but not for me.
it all depended on the source.
the source of discipline…
the u&u cycle
idk if i told u on this newsletter why i did what i did.
suffer 11 months of rejection, frustration, and denied requests,
to get grant money, chemicals not creating reactions, & failed chemical purchasing.
tbh, i never gave a fuck about this wrld.
i did it for one village, one community, one family.
ejutla de crespo, san josé del progreso, oaxaca, méxico.
because the pain i saw, felt, been…
from water contamination, and village chaos.
this is the u&u cycle.
i hated the circumstances i was given.
yes, not the best start to the game of life.
but it won’t be the end point.
the u&u cycle is a constant iteration to improve the substance: you.
and it be just like the r&d cycle for materials.
u eat shit. it’s frustrating. takes a long while. u may want to stop progress…
‘cause the changes u see is only 10% change, not 10X.
bruh.
the u&u cycle keeps going.
once the new MVP version of u is ready,
send it out to the wrld.
u’ll get ur unfriendly feedback, all right.
some will reject, some will hate, some will poke at u.
that ok. bad reviews from ppl who loathe u are good ones.
that means ur u&u cycle is improving exponentially.
but even a cycle needs fuel.
the best fuel is…
that’s it.
nothing else.
but not regular-ass pain.
u know what i mean by regular-ass pain.
a pain from ur past does all the wonder.
pain, stress from the pain, creates magic.
u know what my pain is?
that one day, in 2050…
when i got my kids, sons or daughters,
strong, intelligent, with integrity, religious gems of Earth,
… i wont be able to return and show them their roots.
y?
we’ll fight over natural resources like water and food.
what did i tell u? it won’t be ai that will kill us (yet)
it will be the fundamentals.
ai, most likely will be the final nail of the coffin.
pain motivated me to build the filter more than pleasure ever will.
the pain of not seeing my village alive anymore.
not even all the pleasure in the world could force me to build what i did.
not even if i cared about it.
if it’s not selfishly meaningful to who i luv, nah.
ik, i am like that.
so r u, don’t complain & whine.
that’s y i luved building those first two versions.
but fighting for what u want, maybe u’ll get a piece of the prize.
here, have a piece of my prize
tbh, the filter would have never been made…
not if i had not faced what i did in my youth.
and i still did it.
not to save the wrld.
but to save what i’ve become attached to…
the stimulus of love, to a place i called home.
and here’s my lesson from all of this:
be like that lyric from eminem, the monster:
i ain't here to save the fuckin' children
but if one kid out of a hundred million
who are going through a struggle feels it and relates, that's great!
if u build for 10K ppl, only 1 might need it.
if u build for 1 specific person, u find out >10K ppl also need it.
i suggest for y’all to get a post-it.
put it somewhere u can see every day.
and write:
i will prove to (x person) that (my solution, product, etc.) are the key to (the problem u tryna solve).
here was mine:
i will prove to ejutla de crespo, san josé del progreso, that the hydrophobic water filter for heavy metal ion removal is the key to prevent child mortality from walking to the local market for water sources when we can purify from the source.
kinda long, but u get da point.
go save urself first.
then save one other person.
and u may save 10K more in the process.
maybe even the wrld.
then we’ll see who relates to it.
it’ll be great.
CJ
know someone in ur friend/fam circle who MUST read this?