Things I Tell Myself 0.2 - Fire

 


Learn to be your own cheerleader

 

Whenever you start a team you are always the first one, and in some cases the last one in it too.If you have a strong and positive passion for something be it education , fashion , or social media. Give it your all. Do it and do it well. Social media makes it so easy for everyone to be in everyone's business, so it can be scary. I deal with it daily. But, I have decided that this is me. I might not have it all together (yet) but I'm going to give it a try even if I am standing on my own. Sometimes there will be others already doing very well in your field and it might cause you feel intimidated, but, you have to swallow your pride evaluate your successes and mistakes and you must find the strength to continue. 

In many African families following your dreams can be hard (and l'm sure this applies to other cultures too) because you are pressured to follow a certain well recognised career or profession. Fortunately my family is a tad bit liberal - my sister being a designer and myself following the arts. So we slipped through that net in some ways. Did I long for a stricter upbringing? Maybe a tad, possibly 10% stricter. But, am I happy with the person I'm becoming, and who I am today. My family could see my dedication to theatre and would come to every play and every show that I was in. Giving me their full support. Of course I still got the talk of "why you want to be a lawyer or doctor etc". However they saw my passion and they saw the hard work and over time they saw results. You have to study the field you want to excel in. You network. You mingle with positive like minded people. You work hard to gain wisdom. Being a struggling artist isn't what everyone dreams of (I hope) however the idea that I get to play for a living is just….. Wow. It's great to follow the dream but work on making it realistic and having a liveable plan too. Sooner or later you have to move out of the family home or to another country (cough cough). So what's your strategy or your income while you're trying to make your dream a reality? Another hard question to ask yourself.

I'm truly blessed that I can make a income by modelling but make no mistake there is still hard work. You learn the industry, you practice your walk and poses and you work out. I remember working in a call centre and before I knew it. A year has passed me by. How?! I asked myself. It happens to a lot of us. You become comfortable with the income and the environment. You spend less time on the craft and more on climbing the corporate ladder. You get older and gain more responsibility and then have to climb even higher to stay on top of it all whiles getting further and further from your dreams.

Don't lose sight of my goals.  This is a hard industry and I'm still learning. There still may be many who look down on me and the career path I've chosen or ask me "WHY?"  I simply go back to the feeling I get from being on stage. Lights. Costume. Full seats (or half if it's Off Broadway). Telling the audience a story, through acting, and engaging with the audience. And afterwards meeting the audience and getting a direct feedback of what and how they felt. What their emotional responses were. It excites me and gives me chills. That's the feeling that keeps me going! That keeps me emailing and pestering agents/casting directors for auditions.  (Sorry but not sorry).

And when I explain the feeling I get, people say I light up. So why would I want to give up something that gives me fire!?

So ask yourself…

What gives you your fire?...

True fire…

Something that makes you stand apart from the crowd. That can make you step out alone and say

"Hey. This is me and I am going to do it well"

 

Until next time

XO RC

Pose inspired by I-D Magazine and not "the all seeing eye" :D just to put those at ease

Pose inspired by I-D Magazine and not "the all seeing eye" :D just to put those at ease