Often when I find myself worrying about the future, or things I can't control, I know it's time to practice some gratitude. Gratitude can easily get lost in the hustle and bustle of life, so you have to remember to take time to celebrate the wins before moving on to the next task at hand. Part of living in the moment is also celebrating your victories, big or small. Otherwise, you'll just work yourself into the ground, and feel like you've accomplished nothing, because you never stopped to honor the achievements you've made along the way.
Since this blog is all about learning to stay in the moment more, and to create better moments for oneself, especially through grief, I would be remiss if I didn't take the time to acknowledge some of the wins that have developed in my own life.
New Heights
If you read my blog post, "It's The Little Things", you'll remember I was brought onto an audio project to record some lines on their final day of production. I was welcomed into a warm and accepting environment with such talented and passionate people. Well, that project continues to be a blessing in my life! Red for Revolution is an audio storytelling project created by the beautiful mind of my friend Jana Naomi Smith, and it became an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival!! (This is a prestigious film festival founded by Robert De Niro held in lower Manhattan.)
To be honest, I didn't know the scale of this project when I was brought on. I thought I was helping a friend out, and since it was during the WGA and SAG strike last year, I was just happy to be working again! I had no idea my name would be mixed in with amazing actors like Loretta Devine, Danny Glover, Jennifer Beals, and so many more. Y'all I literally stumbled into a blessing with this one, and I am beyond grateful!
I was debating if I should attend the festival, because let's be real, I worked one day on this project while others labored for a year. For a moment, I thought I didn't deserve to go. This is one of those small lies your Imposter Syndrome will tell you. It's why we have such a hard time recognizing wins in our life. I expressed this to my friend Jana, and she reminded me that it didn't matter if I was there from the beginning or not. I worked on the project, and that project got into Tribeca, so ya girl's going to Tribeca!
Tip # 1: Don't let Imposter Syndrome talk you out of celebrating a win. Whether you believe it or not, you're included for a reason. Believe it, you deserve to be there!
New Boo?!
Listennn... I'm blushing just thinking about writing this paragraph. lol As you know, if you've been keeping up with this blog, or follow me on socials, I don't mind sharing my experiences with others. For the most part, I'm an open book. However, I don't usually share much about my romantic endeavors. But since I did write the "Grief & Dating" blog post, and gave tips on how to put yourself out there, I feel it's my due diligence to update you on how that went. It worked! lol A little too well to be honest. I had a whole grief and dating series planned out where I would go on self love dates/single events to be brave, and put myself out there, but I somehow found myself booed up before that could happen.
In my previous post, I talked about going to a salsa dance class because dancing is something I enjoy doing by myself, but salsa would also force me out of my comfort zone, and potentially help me meet guys. Well... I met a guy during salsa dance class. It's been going great, so much so that a girl is no longer single. lol Y'all, if you're dating in LA, you'll know this is definitely a win that should be celebrated. Getting booed up here is nearly impossible! (Lol I'm being dramatic… but am I?) It turns out he's from New York. So if getting into the Tribeca Film Festival and finding a great guy wasn't enough, now my trip to New York can double as a romantic getaway! This will be my first time visiting New York, so now I also have a built-in tour guide that I can recreate scenes from When Harry Met Sally with! lolol Y'all can't tell me God ain't doing some divine interconnecting!
New Opportunities
This one is a challenge for me. I often don't consider something a win unless I see it come to fruition. This isn't the best perceptive for an actor to have, and I've talked about this a lot with my therapist. There are so many factors to why you may, or may not book something, so your identity as a successful actor should not be tied to how much you book. The truth is, just getting an audition is a win. Casting directors look through thousands of submissions for a project, and only request auditions from talent they want to see more from. If it's this hard to get an audition, imagine how hard it is to book a project. (That's how I know everything I've booked so far is a blessing from God!)
With all that said, I've started to celebrate the opportunities rather than only celebrating if I receive my desired outcome. I recently got pinned for my first ever feature film! (Pinned is like being placed on hold for the project as they finalize their selection for the cast. So out of the thousands of submissions, hundreds of auditions, I was selected into the top picks for this movie!) Ultimately, I wasn't the final pick, but I was so honored I made it that far! While this was happening, I also received an audition for a new Amazon Prime TV show! (This is a blessing in itself because after Covid and the strike, not many new shows are being approved for production.)
I've been in the commercial acting space for so long, I'm more confident in my ability to book commercials, than TV and film roles. However, both these opportunities gave me a much needed confidence boost that my "big break" into TV and film might be closer than I think. Getting pinned made me one step closer to booking a movie! It made me one step closer to my dream, and I believe that's something to celebrate.
Tip # 2: Pursuing your dream is a marathon not a sprint, make sure to celebrate every mile you accomplish. You're one step closer to the finish line!
These are just a few of life's wins I've decided to take time to celebrate. I'm sure there are even more! (I found money on the ground the other day! I didn't know cash still existed! lol) I hope you find the time to stop and reflect on your own life. Is there a win you unjustly disqualified yourself from? Did a win disguise itself into a new friendship, or relationship that brings new joys to your life? Did you stop to celebrate how far you've come from just thinking about a dream to actually pursuing steps towards it? This is what life is about, not just fruition, or making it to the finish line, but all the wins and moments in between. I think Ferris said it best, so I'll end this post with the famous quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off,
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller
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