Why I Don’t Join In
(Mainstream Culture or Graffiti Culture)
People sometimes ask me why I don’t rack, drink, mess around, eat meat, gamble, or even listen the same music as everyone else. And I get it—it might seem like I’m on some strict, uptight path. But the truth is, I’m just clear about who I want to be.
Let’s start with racking. I’ve said it before: theft is a myth. Karma is real. You might not get caught, but that doesn’t mean it’s free. You lose trust with yourself. You become the kind of person who takes shortcuts. That weighs on your consciousness. You can’t respect yourself and that bleeds into your quality of life and relationships in very real ways. I've felt it and I've seen it happen.
Drinking and intoxication? For me, it’s escapism. I don’t want to numb life—I want to feel it. All of it. That’s what builds strength. That’s how you grow. I’m not afraid of pain. I’m not even afraid of death. So why would I need to run? It's also harmful to the body and I need my health to live peacefully. Aside from that, my body is my temple. It was given to me to serve God and I keep it clean from poisons that erode it. People take better care of their cars than themselves. I think that's backwards.
PS I admit I don't wear a mask every time I use spray paint and that's toxic. Technically it's intoxication even though I don't get altered. I will start wearing one when I use spray paint. That's a promise!
PSPS
Illicit sex? Being a man, to me, means protection. Especially of women and children. Lust takes. Real masculinity gives, shields, nurtures. I’ve experienced the damage that lust causes to others and myself, and I’m not here to be part of that destruction.
Gambling? I don’t sacrifice the known for the unknown. I’ve got a certain amount of money—earned, honest. Why would I throw that away on a maybe? That’s not faith, that’s greed. It’s cheating. And karma always collects.
Meat-eating? For me, all sentient life is sentient life. I don’t draw lines between humans and animals just like I don’t draw lines between stealing from my mum or stealing from a stranger. Theft is theft and killing is killing. Killing makes the consciousness angry and I don't want to be angry. I believe war is indirectly a result of the mass slaughter of cows. Cows are mothers.. our mothers.. they give us milk and everything that comes from milk. I'm not about harming one of my mothers.
And then there’s hip-hop music. I grew up on it. I respect the craft. But I don’t listen to most of it anymore. Because the industry’s been hijacked. What used to be expression from the street has been weaponized by elites to promote lust, violence, ego, materialism. It’s not art anymore—it’s programming. And I’m not here to be programmed.
So yeah, I walk a different path. No racking. No drinking. No sleeping around. No gambling. No eating animals. No hypnotic mainstream music. Not because I’m better—but because I want to be free. I want to be clean. I want to be devoted.
I still paint. I still love graffiti. I still value style and creativity. But I want my art to uplift. To serve. To remind people that they’re not just bodies or consumers or addicts. They’re souls. They’re meant for something higher.
This path might not be popular. But it’s peaceful. It’s powerful. And it’s mine.
If I want to be trusted—really trusted—then I have to be trustworthy. That means not just what I do when people are watching, but how I live when no one is. Integrity matters. When the world breaks down, when the wars come, I want to be someone you can rely on. And for that, I have to be able to trust myself. And that starts with truthfulness in every choice.
If you want to hear about why I don’t gossip, or more of the principles and values I live by, let me know—I’ll keep writing more of these articles.
The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness
- Krishna