Who Is Your Leader

My leader is God. I work hard to do the things he does and to be the righteous person he is. I admire him with all my heart and soul. He’s always been there for me, he has loved me before I loved him or even grew to understand and know whom he is.

I look to him for all my unanswered questions for he knows everything and what’s best for me. He knows where I want to go in life and he knows how I'm going to get there. He is able to guide me through life and allow me to grow and become the person he and I wish for me to be.

He has taught me how to humble my self, speak no evil, to love everyone even the ones who have done me wrong, to respect my parents, and to seek him first before I seek anyone else. He’s always given me encouragement, strength, advice, and the divine power to praise him. Because of him I can wake up every morning and breathe, eat, sleep, walk, run, speak, yell, shout, jump and dance.

Without the God, I probably wouldn't be here. I wouldn’t exist. Everyday I try my best to live my life right because he has inspired me to do so. He gives me that extra push and gives me a better reason everyday why my life serves a purpose. He is the reason why I strive everyday to make my life worth living for. I strive to be the best I can and do the best I can.

My world revolves around my leader. Everyday is a mission and a challenge to live the righteous way my leader did. I am on the move to become a virtuous women.

Christmas Redemption

It has been awhile now since Christmas Redemption has ended. Closing the curtains with two of our best shows. It was a very long road and I am happy that I finally got the chance to showcase my acting talent to people outside my school. It’s brought back memories of the days when I always used to go out on stage and dance like it was no ones business, competing against different dance companies. Everything was just phenomenal for me. I loved it. Yes, at times we would run into problems like costume changes, set changes, lighting and sound difficulties but that's what happens when your in a production, things will go wrong it's just the way you approach the issue and how you deal with it.

In this production I had two different character roles. On Saturday I played granny and on Sunday I played Claudette (Jamaican born). I would have to say my favorite show was on Saturday. I loved playing the role of granny, the acting just came so real, my lines were fully memorized and I felt it in my soul and heart that I knew I could go on stage and nail that character. Before that performance day I have never performed the granny character in front of anybody, maybe once in front of a little group but never in front of a big whole audience that were full of hundreds of people. I felt the motivation to bring it, go big or go home. I think the best part of playing granny would be the fact that I know people had doubt in me to see if I could play the granny character well because I was just an understudy. The original granny performed on Sunday because she couldn't do Saturday's show. My director needed a back up plan, and I was her first choice. She believed in me and knew that I could handle a huge role like Granny. Who was the main character and in every scene. So of course people had doubt if I could pull it off or not and I already knew that so when I went up there and I did, I was proud of myself and also gave the rest of my cast a good shock.

They recognized that I was perfect for the job, though at first when my director came to me I was like "oh no, this is a big role for me and its my very first stage play outside of school, I don't know if I can do it, I'm nervous". My director and the original granny gave me some words of encouragement and after a min of thinking about it I felt more confident and realized maybe this happened for a reason. I love acting and for my first time doing a stage play outside of school I got to play a main character. Well I believe that I couldn't of done it without my trainer (Original granny) and especially God. I prayed days and night about this performance and he allowed it to come through. Thank you God and thank you Kandice (O.G).

That Women

My heart is weak. The blood must not be flowing properly. Times are hard and I'm feeling like i can’t breathe. Tears in my eyes looking at my own reality. Always there for other people. Giving them advice on the situations in there life but yet i fail to work out the situations in my own life. How does that work.

Always trying be strong and keep up a wall in front of me and be the most who’s discrete because i continue to isolate my self from everybody. I bow down on my knees close my eyes n stretch my head to god and pray days and nights to ask him to strengthen me, because i am weak...just too weak to the fools who think they can control me.

When people come around i hold my ground. I lift my head high and i carry on and act like the strong women they think i am but it kills me inside because I've lost that image of who i am. Mistake after Mistake. but i keep telling my self there’s no more room for my dark days. its a new year. I need to take one more look at my self in the mirror and recognize i haven’t lost that image. I am bold. I am strong. I am that women!

Post Reading "Acting Professionally"

After reading this book i would give it a rating of 9 out of 10. Robert Cohen has filled this book with plenty of information or enough information to set you on your way. Even before that he gives you enough information in the beginning of the book to make the decision on weather or not you want to attempt to get into the industry. What i really liked about the book is that he gave a lot of cold hard blunt facts in all seriousness. I loved that about it because when it comes to reading about something your interested in getting into, you do not want the negative things to be sugar coated or thrown to the side, so i would say that’s one of the reasons why i gave it such a high rating. “Let’s face the facts squarely: Acting is one of the toughest business in the world to break into. Maybe the toughest. The majority of people who try fail even to get their foot in the door, and the vast majority of those who do get their foot in the door don’t keep it their very long.”(Cohen 3). The way he states things puts you in the position to take some deep thought into the point he is trying to make.

“Wanting success isn’t enough, studying for it isn’t enough, and no amount of dedication or commitment will, on it’s own, get you into the casting office.”(Cohen 3). This quote was the one that actually got me thinking. I started wondering what more do they want but then later on it explains what you need to do and how you need to do it and that was another reason why i rated the book a 9 out of 10. I liked the way it goes into depth of each section that you were probably questioning in your mind, it gave you a better understanding and more then what you were looking for. I really appreciate how he will talk about a section of why you need something like a manager for example and then he would tell you how to get a manager and when you will need one. He does not just tell you, you need a manager and move on to the next topic. The author gives you a list of other options relating to the arts/theatre just in case you have changed your mind about acting, so he does not just leave you in the gutter if you decide on dropping the industry. 

The only reason why i gave it a 9 is because at some points he would talk about a section but then slowly drift to something else for a long period then switch back to what he was trying to get at. The second reason was that i did not like how in other chapters he would repeat things over that he has already mentioned and go into a whole paragraph about what he already touched based upon instead of saying “refer to chapter...page..” He has done that but only for some. All in all, Robert Cohen fills his book with plenty of information and knowledge that you can soak up and it is up to you weather or not you want to use that info to your ability.

What it takes to be an Actor

I believe it takes a lot to become an actor, there is so many things you have to do in order to even be seen or get your foot in the door, not only just to get your foot in the door but to make sure you stay there because it is never a guarantee, it is a very competitive industry. I would most definitely have to say it would take plenty of talent, determination, patience, and passion. You need to have the talent, no question about it, it is the most important factor for a performer. If you do not have the talent, you will not be seen or heard and that is basically it. Allow your confidence to run with your talent. “Confidence is the power you have over your own personality.” (Cohen 12). Determination will allow you to boost your self esteem and it gives you a reminder that your trying to obtain or accomplish your goal. 

This industry its self is one of the most competitive industries out there, so being determined to make it would be a plus for you, keep the faith and keep moving on. Patience is a sense of stability. Things won’t be moving as fast as you want at times because your just starting out, at the moment your nobody to those casting directors, so it will take time to rise. It could take weeks, months just to get a call back and years just to get noticed. Patience is required, i would consider it a requirement along with the other ones.  Passion is key because having the talent, determination and patience may not even be enough, the passion has to be there, if you love something enough to put aside all the negatives about it then i believe that is what will get you through or help push you along the way when you feel like your about to fall off the edge. 

Another thing is you can’t be lazy, you have to be a go getter because your constantly working trying to get contacts, upgrading your resume, head-shots, going for auditions, meeting with agencies, marketing your self around the world and more. Putting your self out their to get recognized takes a lot of work and energy. In addition, having faith can create a big impact on your life and with everything you strive for, faith is what you need for sure in this industry. Turn to your faith and turn to your God because in the end it is really god’s decision weather he will make this happen for you or not. You can only get so far without him, with him you can go all the way, as long as you keep him by your side.

Moving On

 

I smile and I laugh because for the first time I can see the glory out of this whole thing. I thought I was lost and dying to be found or maybe I didn't want to be but now i let out a sigh of relief because I know I'll be okay, I'll be free I'm no longer in your captivity.

Post Media Presentation

Nerve Racking

We finally got to execute all of the media presentations and I'm glad i finally got it over with because for the first i found it nerve racking to present. Building the poem was good time well spent and i enjoyed doing the work because i love writing poetry but i don’t know what came over me when it came time to present.

I felt the lights in my face, the heat building up, i completely felt like i was melting. I felt as if at times when i messed up everyone noticed and the room just seemed to be silenced. For the first time in my life, presenting was difficult. I guess i could say some of the reasons on why felt like that would be because i didn’t have my poem fully memorized and maybe i was worrying to much about if they would like it or if they liked it when i was done and is it good enough. My worst fear was if my teacher my adjudicator would like it and feel what i felt when i wrote that poem and saw the truth of life on the streets.

I have to say it was not one of my best presentations but i do plan on continuing to get better and gradually grow to be stellar at presenting. I will work on my memorization and i will try not to worry so much in the future. Doing these kind of challenges allows you to open up your eyes, view the streets with a different perspective and be more gracious to your surrounding people living their life struggling day to day. It also allows you to keep in mind how great your life is disregarding the mini situations or problems. It also teaches you to not take everything for granted and to enjoy the life you live.

Make wise decisions, for you only have one shot at life. I hope the class enjoyed my presentation and was able to connect with the message i was trying to deliver. I hope they can now open their eyes to these people struggling and will try to make a change. Let’s all contribute and make that change.