Female Empowerment: Rediscovering my Passions
Thank you to Uber for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.
2018 is our year; the year where we, women, take charge and show the world we can be successful, empowered, and risk takers. Each generation, women have taken those dangerous leaps to open doors and make way for future opportunities. But sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the mundaneness of life and work in trying so hard to get ahead and prove yourself, as well as get equal footing in the playing field that is a man's world. I loved playing instruments growing up, but as I grew older, taking the time to do that became less and less prevalent in my life, to almost non-existent. I was sidetracked with my writing pursuits. As an actor, I lost focus on honing my craft. Overall, I lost sight of my passions.
Recently, so many inspirational women recently lit a major fire under my butt, and reminded me that true successful women & artists are the ones who take risks, and don't lose sight of their passions and the things they love in the process. That's why I've partnered up with Uber to show how I'm now taking the time to enjoy the passions I once loved, and to take risks again with my life: from learning the guitar, writing again, and focusing more on my acting.
There are so many empowering and strong female artists and songwriters that inspire me to play music. The first instrument I learned to play was the clarinet, and from there, I taught myself to play the keyboard. I loved playing music; I'd spend hours practicing each night dance class and homework. I'd spend even more time listening to all kinds of music genres and dissecting it & breaking it down: from the structure, the lyrics & the meaning behind them, and how it made me feel; often times imagining myself either playing along, dancing to it, or in some sort of movie scene I created in my head. I played music for several years and danced for 18, and then just stopped. Life got in the way and became lost on what I enjoy doing. There are no more excuses, because life is too short not take any action. I have been slowly learning guitar on my free time, and it has been such a joy to have music back in my life! Dance is next on my list!
I look up to so many female writers of the past and present, from women writing & directing their own films & TV shows, to the authors that take me to another world inside my head. As a kid, I had dreams & ambitions on becoming an artist AND a mathematician. I'm pretty okay with not pursuing mathematics now (but am in awe of the women who are successful in that field), but am grateful I am living my life the way I want it: as an artist. Within that, I love writing (I always secretly wanted to be a writer) and reading. As a teenager, I wrote out my feelings, the struggles of life, and my silly childhood crushes in my diary. I'd write poetry and short stories. My love for writing carried on in my education and academics, and it showed. I continued into adulthood, but soon lost track on my intent. My love for it suffered in favor of work, money, etc. I lost focus, and it started to become forced and was getting writer's block. While it isn't a bad thing to have such goals (especially when it comes to creating), I've forgotten to just write for myself, and sometimes it's okay to not have to force my writing into some sort of result. The best writing tends to come from those unplanned moments, where you suddenly feel the need to write, and it just flows. It's time I bring that enjoyment and "no pressure" approach and attitude back.
Seeing women in film (especially women of color that looked like me), made me want to be an actress. I was obsessed with the femme fatales & classic beauties of the golden era, the strong black women in B movies in the 70s, and the prominence of more appropriate & strong roles for women, made by women, in present day. I've been a model and actor for 10 years. My love and hard work has opened up so many doors and amazing opportunities I'm grateful for. I've come a long way from where I started. But lately, I've been so caught up focusing on other things, I've forgotten to focus on what I'm truly here for. Whether it's taking a class again, hiring a coach, or just getting together with a group of other actor friends and creating.
