“I came for the steak, but I left with the cow.”
This is one of my favorite lines from Mac Miller. It’s very simple but encompasses so many patterns in life.
Like most local artists, Mac had dreams of making it big. In the salad days of his career, Mac just needed to make a name for himself in Pittsburgh and niche online rap forums. Early on, success was embodied through a deal with Rostrum Records, an indie Pittsburgh label. Then, a few music videos gain traction, and a mixtape about KIDS from a local artist blows up. Mac didn’t let this moment be the apex of his career, and he kept creating, improving, and releasing new music. Before he knew it, Mac had critically acclaimed albums under his belt, reality TV shows, and a cult-like fanbase.
The rise in success from no-name rapper to achieving immense buzz with his mixtape KIDS was the steak—a brief taste of satisfaction. But by the end of it, Mac walked away with much more. What started as the grind to get his dream off the ground turned into a completely new life that I’m not sure Mac, or anyone else, could’ve expected.
That’s what I pull away from the bar. We enter different stages of our lives with intentions for what we want to achieve or receive, but there is always so much more than we expected on the other side. What starts as a simple goal of regular exercise can turn into a new community of friends, a goal of competing, or injuries only sustained through weightlifting.
Some of the extra pieces we walk away with are intentional. We decide we want more than we initially asked for, so we take more. Many other pieces we walk away with are unintentional and cannot even be envisioned at the onset.
Life gives us package deals in every situation. It’s never a singular issue. A relationship isn’t just between two people enjoying the good in each other. That’s a small piece of the whole. A relationship comprises each person’s idiosyncrasies, social circles, and who knows what else. A new job isn’t just made up of the 5% raise they’re offering. It includes the new responsibilities, team dynamics, and expectations.
Every new stage of life begins with us wanting a steak, and we may get it, but there is always more that comes with it, good and bad. Whether we talk ourselves into walking away with the cow or the waiter convinces us to take it home with us, we have resources to make more steaks, but there is also the responsibility of caring for the cow until it is eventually slaughtered.
The steak for this post was just discussing what one of my favorite Mac Miller lyrics means to me, but by the end, I’ve given you a cow- a rambling mess of thoughts. Some insightful, some surface level. The cow is off my hands, and it’s your problem now.