"Your Thoughts Become Things"

What's good, y'all? It's your boy Ghost back with another one. For this go around, I wanted to tell y'all a story. There's a few things that I haven't mentioned on this site that some of y'all don't know about me.

1) I have a physical condition called cerebral palsy.

2) I suffered from depression from 2010-2014. And I guess you could say that it never goes away because I still have bouts from time to time.

How do these two factoids tie into this story? Keep reading. It'll all make sense at the end.

For those who don't know what that is, it's a physical disorder that occurs in infants at birth. It affects the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that affects movement. There are four types (monoplegia, hemiplegia, diplegia, and quadriplegia), and I have diplegia, which means that it affects me from the waist down (Peep the diagram below for easier understanding).

I was one of the blessed ones though, because I still have control of my limbs. I use crutches and a wheelchair to get around. Many people with CP can live long and normal lives, and I intend on doing the same. I've made it through 26 years of life so far, but as you can probably imagine, shit gets difficult and frustrating sometimes.

I graduated from Winthrop University with a degree in mass communication in December 2014. Just like most college students, I had a battle with depression during my time there. It started in 2010 after my grandfather died, and it was on and off since then. To give you an example of how fucked up I was, I remember locking myself in my dorm one weekend, not eating, showering, etc. Shoot, some days a nigga didn't even wanna get outta bed for class. I used to literally drag myself outta bed and put a fake smile for everybody around me, because everyone knew Donovan as that "happy go lucky" guy in the wheelchair. My friends got happy just by seeing ME happy. It was torture telling my loved ones "I'm straight", when I was a complete mess on the inside.

I was happy after graduation, but after a year at home, I started to get down on myself again because I felt like I was getting stuck in a rut. I was 24 years old, still living at my parents crib, and having difficulty finding a job in my field. When I'd apply for a job, the furthest I'd get is an interview, and that would be it. Little to no contact at all. I've never been one to complain, but I began to suspect that these companies didn't wanna hire me because of my disability. I knew I had the credentials to do whatever job I wanted, but in Corporate America's eyes, I'm a liability. I had to think about it for a second. People ain't never seen a person like me before, and they hardly deal with situations like this in the workplace. It made me even more upset because I felt like everyone was afraid to give me a chance! I had been dealing with that my whole life, and I was tired of it! I was seeing all my friends and colleagues getting the same opportunities that were denied to me (And truth be told, the competitor in me was saying "What they got that I ain't got? I'm waaaaaay better than these muh'fuckas!" So I admit, I was jealous of my friends... that's how I KNOW my spirit wasn't right).

One day in May 2015, I was randomly watching a Breakfast Club interview, and my moms was in the kitchen cooking.

"Donovan...that Breakfast Club show, they got that fella named Charlamagne on there, right?"

"Yeah, there he his right there," I said pointing to the laptop screen." He's on MTV and he's got his own podcast on the internet. He's from Moncks Corner, too" (Moncks Corner is 45 minutes away from my hometown of Charleston).

"Yeah, I know", Moms said. "Remember my old boss Mr. Gerald? That's his son-in-law."

At that moment, a lightbulb went off my head. "Maybe if I could get C Tha God's contact info, I could meet him and maybe soak up some game!" He always seems like he was a down to earth dude, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. By the end of the week, I had already reconnected with Mr. Gerald and he gladly gave me Charlamagne's number. Now was my chance. I pressed the button, and the phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Suddenly, I heard someone say "Hello?"

I had been taken aback for a quick minute. I remember thinking "Yoooooooo, I'm actually on the phone with one of my biggest influences on radio!" I couldn't believe it!

"Hello, may I speak to Charlamagne?

"This is him."

"Yo, what's up, man? My name is Donovan German. I got your number from your father in law, Mr. Gerald! How you doing?"

"Oh, yeah, he told me about you! What's good, my brother?"

I immediately felt at ease and told him my whole story...from my disability to my struggle to find a job, and everything in between. In turn he told me about his life, and how he went from a crack dealer in the 'hood to where he is now. He asked what my ultimate goals were, and I told him that I wanted to be a top radio personality like him, and eventually venture into the music and entertainment business. He advised me to start a podcast, like him and Andrew Schulz did. "Talk about something you're passionate about...or do like me and Schulz and just talk about ignorant shit!"

He then applauded me on my goals, and dropped a HEAVY jewel on me. "You gotta remember that your thoughts become things. If you speak the things you want in existence, they'll happen. I told Angela Yee that one day we'd host a show on Power 105.1, and God did the rest." The whole conversation lasted about 30 minutes, and he encouraged me to stay in touch with him. We hung up and that was that.

In the coming weeks, I kept Uncle Charla's words in my head: "Your thoughts become things". I sat down and brainstormed all the things that I wanted to do. All the sudden, I wasn't down on myself anymore. I finally decided to get up and make my own opportunity. If Corporate America didn't wanna open the door for me, I'd kick it down my damn self.

Me and my brother Marcus had been toying with the idea of starting our own record label since we were juniors in college. I always had a talent for doing poetry, and he had recently decided to give it a try. After I had passed on what I learned from Charlamagne, we decided to commit full time to our passion. In August 2015, I hooked up with one of my best friends Mike, and we made a makeshift studio in his closet. Over the next few days, we recorded a few tracks, and Pedigree Records was born. Fast forward to now, and we've built our own studio, dropped a EP (The No Place Like Home EP is on DatPiff right now, by the way, so that's a shameless plug! ) and we currently have a song on local radio!

My experience with Charlamagne finally came full circle this past Sunday when he came to Charleston to promote his new book Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It (Very good read! I highly recommend it!). I dapped him up and thanked him again for the talk we had, and he was happy to hear about the progress I made. Before he left, me and my brother gave him a jump drive with all our music on it, along with our contact information. Just like that I created my own opportunity!

So whether you have cerebral palsy like me, suffered from depression like me, or if you're a young person struggling to find your way, I'm here to tell ya, it gets better. You're gonna have bad days, but you have to remember that you gotta create your own happiness. Just like Tha God says: Your Thoughts Become Things...and you just have to stay positive. The rest will take care of itself. Don't be afraid to reach out to somebody...because you never know who's willing to help you.

Til next time, faithful reader. I pray this article inspires you.

Ghost