CLOUT.

Many who will read these words already understand and know their essence. They have witnessed first hand what it takes to achieve said subject. However, I find it imperative as a leader in our culture and community to make clear in some form a pathway for the children coming up who do not fully understand the full anatomy of that which they seek.

You cannot, you cannot use someone else's fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it. — Audre Lorde

Clout. You know, the influence, the power, pull, sway, control, the rank, the prestige, and stature of it all. It is the epitome of the empty hunger circling in the pit of your belly, like a lighter that won't ignite no matter how raw your thumb becomes with its attempts.

People follow you now for yours; maybe they're as close as breathing, all with their next breath longing for some of your Clout.

Clout is like a flame that others light in their hearts in your honor. Once someone holds a flame for you, they do so audaciously. And the children scam for it; they will fuck you and mention fantasies of love --stealing, lying, cheating -- becoming a different person all for a taste of it on their tongues.

The children have yet to understand that you can not gain Clout off of someone else's heels or back. It is not allocated to you because of your close proximity to it. It does not rub off, nor can you leach upon it. It is only able to lend its weight to those who are aligned with it. 

Clout has an authentic process of manifesting, one that can not be counterfeited. To simply state the process: Presence + Position + Power consistently held over time is the pathway to Clout.

Another way to put it --You must become, and that becoming must be invited by others in a position in their hearts. Position in someone's heart garners Power with that someone. As you continue to be that which you have become, consistently, that flame ignited within someone in your honor will appreciate over time.

1.

Presence is produced by who you choose to be. The person you decide to be daily in this world. All of the many ingredients that it takes to cultivate your gifts, talents, and abilities that shine as the light you are, make up your Presence. This consistent beingness creates an energy about you, an aura that will attract to you Position and opportunities of power. Your Presence is how people experience you and that which you chose to present to the world. It is what compels anyone to root for you, allowing you to hold stock with them.

2.

Position is where you arrive via your Presence. Whether the Position is in the hearts of others, a Position of authority, or a Position of acclaim; it was your Presence that forged your journey there. If you ever arrive in a Position that is not where you want to be, renew your Presence. A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great. --Proverbs 18:16

3.

Power is the accumulation of Presence and Position. Its strength increases over time, like consistent core workouts build the body structurally strong. Power is a score of opportunity that works like a window to the Presence of your soul. If you were a disrespectful pompous prick before you came into Power, with that Power comes a transparent veil that allows all to see what you are really made of. Power provides you the tool of agency, which will enable you to hold space. Hold space for LGBTQ+ people and their related causes, hold space for your friends on the front row of a fashion show, or hold space for homeless youth and minorities confronting HIV. Power can do those things and more. 

I want you to understand that your chase is not external; it will always be within. You are hungry for the fullness of that which you know is possible for yourself to become, and every waking day you can feel its intensity grow. The only way to fulfillment is to wage war on who you have been for who you can become. Be such a presence, people light up in your midst. Become!... a rainbow in someone else's cloud, a bridge-forth over troubled water, a lifeline. Be and be better—Chase, not Clout. Chase the greatness in you until you have Clout like oil wells pumping in your living room. Purrr.