So much has happened this past year. I can't believe I have already been living out in California for over a year. I met some amazing people who inspire me, have made so much progress in discovering who I am and living out my purpose, and so much more
I can go on and on about so much I am grateful for and things I am looking forward to, but I just want to make this short and sweet. AMAW-- my Thursday nights. My new Family. Not all is pictured for this was our last class and it being the holiday season, so many were out. But, I just have to say I truly have grown from this studio and I love each and every one of these talented artists. I am inspired each and every week watching them create and it reminds me why I am here, why I moved out here, leaving our family behind and so far away, and the fire in my heart keeps staying lit. I sense the universe working the way as it should and I really do see some big things on the horizon for 2016...... I am so Blessed... I love my Team Thursday and they are my family!
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Okay. I will admit it. I have been absent FAR too long. It is completely my fault & I blew it. I will be up front and honest that it takes some time for me to find a consistent routine and I had it for my once a week blogs...that was until I was taken out of my element and went on vacation. A Disney vacation to be exact! No complaints here. I am a huge Disney fan(as I hope you know by now) and I completely missed being able to spend time at the most Magical place on Earth. I got to spend quality time with my husband and his parents and being away from Disney World for 2 years, a lot has changed. It was like I was seeing it for the first time ALL over again. I was a kid again. I had fun again. I left all the worries and stress that being an adult in this world can bring, and let myself fully immerse in this experience. With that, I unplugged. With that, I stay off social media only to post updates...so yes, my blog stopped with it. But, now I am back & I promise, I will do my best to keep my weekly blogs up to date, even when enjoying such a Magical Place. Here's a little look at some of the wonderful time all of us had during our week vacation in Florida. We also got to explore the new Harry Potter at Universal Studios and I was so so excited to witness it. If you are a fan of the books, and of course seen the movies, walking into Diagon Alley...you really feel like you are in the books!
But, I can go on and on and share so many pictures--if you would like to see them, always comment and I Will be sure to post them up! But I wanted to end with this last update. Corey and I have started a new workout program,(well, I have done this before but not to that extent. We are really taking it to the Extreme for the end of the year. SO many of us use these last few months as a time to slack off, let ourselves go and then of course we are 5-10 pounds heavier the start of the year. Now, we take our health pretty seriously, but we still let ourselves indulge in a few not so healthy choices, every now and then. I mean, we should also be able to enjoy the sweeter things in life and that is why I love this lifestyle. But, after we have indulged a little too much at Disney..oh yes it was insane how much we were not able to resist the Disney shaped desserts and our bellies definitely let us know how they felt about it...plus Thanksgiving following the next week, we had to step it up a notch or two... We are training with Autumn Calabrese with 21 Day Fix Extreme but not just doing the workouts and the meal plan with portion color coded containers, which is extreme within itself..but we are taking the 21 days to follow a Countdown to Competition eating plan, that Autumn uses before she does her bikini competitions. So really strict on what we eat. But it is only 21 days and we want to end the year out stronger than we began it. So you can definitely expect updates on this as we go along. We are rounding out our first week and here are our Before Pictures from Day 1! Today's blog will be short & sweet.... This week marks a very personal milestone in my life as it is the week of my 4 year anniversary with my best friend.
Nov. 12th, 2011, will always hold a very special in my heart for it is where I made it known to the world that I am dedicating my heart, my soul, to my very best friend, Corey. Of course it was very special and magical indeed, and it will be a day I will never forget. I am very blessed that I met this man, fell in love with him & his family. I will always appreciate them for they made this day a DREAM COME TRUE..... they made our Disney Fairytale Wedding. I am just going to share some very special moments from this amazing day.... Our Cinderella Themed Disney Wedding! Hope you enjoy these moments! What in the world am I talking about???
This may have sounded strange to me a while back but it is a reflection of what I have experienced this past week.. My husband and I have FINALLY been able to clear our schedule and sit in on a Ziva Meditation Talk with Emily Fletcher. We had 2 other opportunities before but I highly believe the universe speaks to us and our "excuses" were just because it was not our time to participate. We were not in that chapter in our lives. But, here we were. The last time she would be speaking with us for the year and we KNEW WE HAD TO GO. Now I also am a firm believer that we have to have a deep connection with someone and truly understand and like the person in order to get the most out of it and thoroughly enjoy it..luckily, Emily, was that person. I immediately felt a connection and I had been following her on social media and am on her email list and I already liked that vibe..but again, you never know TRULY who someone is until you meet them in person...Emily was inspiring and I immediately felt safe and connected. She didn't take herself too seriously, which I love, and I could see her passion in truly wanting to help others and not just take our $$ (sad, but yes, some people out there are only about the $$) After the talk, Corey(my husband) and I took immediate action( We are doing this more and more often these days before we let our self-doubt and fears get in the way of stopping us) and there we were..signed up to take a 4 day course of meditation. The first day we had to bring in handful of fresh flowers and a couple pieces of organic whole fruit. I had no idea what to expect but only knew it was based on the history of this practice and how you "paid" for it to be taught to you. Yes I am probably missing out a whole junk of the info, so sorry, Emily, If I completely missed the mark on this! lol) But, I thought it was inspiring and I was very open to it. (The old me would have been a skeptic and thought what did I get myself into) But, no this new me, was inspired and ready to learn and be better. Fast forward, for I could probably make this blog entry a REALLY LONG one, but this course was Tuesday to Friday from 10-12. We were each given a specific mantra,(which I can not recite to you!) and I loved the way this practice is taught. I was one of the misunderstood when it came to meditation..which is probably why I never have tried it until last week. I thought I had to completely shut off my mind and not have any thought.s I thought I had to sit up right and have perfect posture...I believed I would not be able to sit still for 5 minutes to meditate. I figured I would be awful at it and not receive the benefits...but Emily and Ziva Mediation completely gave me a 180. To quote Emily, " Your mind thinks involuntarily, as your heart beats involuntarily." Yep..you can not tell your mind to stop thinking. It doesn't work that way. You will have thoughts, that is natural & we accept them into our meditation. We do not have to sit up right. Just have to have your back supported and your head free...(good posture is to be slumped over! lol which I did A LOT ) and we just use the mantra to help ground us, forget and reach BLISS... What I love is that a misconception is that you will always be happy when you meditate. But it is not the case. You will be open to ALL feelings and you will feel them quicker. The thing we are here to meditate is to not be great at meditating, but to be GREAT AT LIFE. I really loved that. I am here to better.... I am here to SURRENDER...it is what I want to do in life, I want to be ONE WITH NATURE and know that I do not control it but Nature controls me.... We are so much more than our bodies and I know I am going to be GREAT and BETTER AT LIFE from practicing this. Yes the first week was hard, for I am de stressing, and it had made me irritable, sad, happy, full of energy, then drained of energy, but I am letting nature do what it needs to do....I'm surrendering...I'm enjoying the journey. and I am excited to see from this, how it will not just make me more open and a better person, but a better actor and how it can help me be more creative and get out of my left brain and more into my right...( yes, I left out a whole lot of the left brain and right brain, as in this is the first I brought it up) But, know that we focus so much on the left side where judgment lives, critical thinking, etc. that we lose the creative side, & I am ready to even it out! If you would like to check out more of Ziva Meditation, just click on the picture( she offers an online course ZivaMind, which is a little different but a great way to start if you are out of the LA and NYC area) I'm going to start this off with an excerpt of The New York Times circulated 9/2003 "You've failed many times although you may not remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn't you? Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat? Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot. RH Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on. English novelist, John Creasey got 753 rejections slips before he published 564 books. Babe Ruth struck out 1330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try. I am not going to say that I am fearless and never worried about failing because that is not true. But, I am more open to taking these chances and falling on my face and I am recognizing that these fears and worries are only there for I am SUPER PASSIONATE about it and; therefore, it is super important to me.
I want you to think about something that you are so passionate and it is so important to you, that you have apprehensions on acting on it and moving toward it. Why are we this way? Is it because we WANT it so badly, that we want to be perfect, and afraid we won't hit the mark? Afraid it won't be what we thought it would be? The list can go on and on and on, but just realize if you have that fear, that gut feeling of nerves...know it is super important to try and push forward. It's important and should be pursued, no matter what the outcome. I am definitely still a work in progress and these last few weeks have been testaments to it. I have been suppose to make SCARY phone calls to help me with my 8 week goal I am doing during the Breakthrough and today marked the start of week 4.....Guess how many scary phone calls I have made in this process?? ONE....yep, just one. My hands were clammy, I took forever to hit send when dialing the number and when I did, I felt my heart racing out of my chest. But, I did it, and after, was it scary? HECK YES!! But, did I survive?? YEP. Did I get an answer I was looking for to move me forward? YES.....so, why haven't I continued making these calls????? FEAR--WORRY OF FAILURE. MY OWN SELF DOUBT. MY INSECURITIES. ALl of it is still there and they may always be there..hey I am human after all...But I really want to go after and live my purpose, I have to do the things that scare me. I have to do the things that have me afraid of failure, for that is how I am going to move forward... If I sit back and wait for things to come to me or do the things that are in my comfort zone.. I am wasting my ability, my talent and my purpose. I am missing out on the possibilities that are right there in front of me for I am shutting them down before even trying. So, this is sort of an accountability as you will, and I hope motivation for those reading, that it is okay to have fear. and worry. But do not let those fears stop you from going after what you want. For you will find that yes, it may be scary at first, but once you do it, it wasn't as bad as you thought, or perhaps it was. Either way, you will never know the opportunities that can arise if you sit back and do nothing. So, here I go....a phone call will be made this week...I am scared. I am nervous, but it is for I know it is important to me so I must face this fear and do it anyway. A lot has happened over the year my husband and I moved here. We started out not knowing anybody here in California, for everyone we knew, family and friends, were back east...to having so many talented and aspiring actors and friends with our acting class and improv class. It is true what they say--hard work, dedication and just treating others the way you wanted to be treated, pays off. Myself as well as 6 others are officially the newest troupe to hit LA Connection Comedy Theatre...I am proud to introduce you to GROUP TEXT. We each bring something new and unique to our group and we are working hard on becoming a great improv group! Working on focusing on long form as well as short, we had our 2nd show this past Saturday night. It went really well and I am happy for the turn out we had. We want to be able to provide those that come for pure joy, a great show. Of course, it is unscripted but we have been prepping to set ourselves up for success. we are working outside of class to really get to know one another, know our strengths and weaknesses and bettering ourselves from it to make our team whole. This is where we get to experiment and try new games, new forms, and see what works. This makes us better actors and, well, better people to be around. I am growing from each individual in this group and I can't wait until we have a weekly spot. We are performing again for a special cause on the 24th of this month with another improv troupe- The Squirts- to support and raise for breast cancer awareness, so definitely come out and show some support. We go on at 10:30, but you can come and catch all the troupes starting at 7 PM. Click The Image to Check Out The Event We will have one more show to end up the month, Oct 30th, at 7 PM. We look forward to seeing you there and BTW, it's BYOB !! I am loving the challenge and the experience and I have a feeling before the end of the year, we will have a permanent weekly spot and time and I can't wait to share it with all of you! Here is a sneak peak into the group (minus 1) from last week's performance--we are breaking it down with some Beastie Rap! (pics courtesy of Ashley Undercuffler--thanks girl!) Yes, I had to throw in a Disney Frozen reference! But, I promise it has a connection with this blog!
This past week, I have been working on trying to allow myself to have more fun and not be all about business. I mean, that is not a way to live your life. But, I am also very careful in not allowing myself to have TOO Much fun and get off track, for with my personality, that is So easy to happen! I truly believe that you have to live your life by your purpose and also be able to ENJOY it. It is not too much fun if you are all work and no play. But it is also not fun to be all play and not moving forward. Quite a predicament, right? So, this week, my husband and I took a day off from the world and spent it together, and what better place than to do it at the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH- Disneyland! We were there all day, leaving the house at 6 Am and not returning until after midnight. (Yes, we are DIE HARD FANS!) But, in that moment, I really did not think about all the "busy work" I had to do, or follow up with messages, connections, etc..but instead, just lived in the present and enjoyed my time there. This is how I am able to live my purpose but also enjoy my life. It is not always easy in these times where the world is literally at our fingertips, but I will admit, it felt really good to be able to unplug and just BE! I am someone that tends to stress of ALL the things I HAVE to do, and WANT To do, and then get easily distracted and put things off. So, I really believe it is great to have a harmony between work and play. So you are not in too deep in one over the other. I still have a ways to go and I know I will fail, stumble and fall flat on my face, but I know this is how I am going to grow. This is how I will live my purpose... and this is how I will be able to HAVE FUN and LIVE MY LIFE! Today was the first day of The Actors' Business Breakthrough with Dallas Travers. The past month and a half has been prep work and a lot of research...
Now, it is time to take that prep work and put it into action. This can be a scary thing for this breakthrough is to really make me get out there what it is I want in my career and go take a quantum leap. Leap of faith, courage and belief that I am here and I CAN live my purpose. I'm super excited and will be honest nervous taking part in this new adventure. It is an 8 week course so I have to have an 8 week goal. This goal is to give me something that I REALLY want so I can't take the easy way out. I am going to go ALL in and finally take charge of my career. I already put my goal out in the universe by sharing it with my husband and all the fellow actors in the Breakthrough with me. But, I am going to make it even more universally known by putting it out here in my blog. These next 8 weeks, I am going to focus and take the necessary action steps and discipline I need to help me build a solid, strong relationship with Casting Directors that align with my ultimate vision within this career. ( Leading Female Actress in a Major Motion ACTION film) So, focusing on fewer people, fewer goals, and taking it a step at a time. I will be the first to admit that I have been in the hustle wheel for a while. I get motivated, start something, stay consistent and then fall off and lose momentum. I know this will be a challenge but I am ready to take this on. I know I can no longer take the safe routes for that has led me nowhere. I have to break the MOLD and I am so excited to apply what I have already learned from Dallas Travers' Actors Business Blueprint. This is just the beginning and for those reading, I want to leave you with this. You truly can LIVE the life YOU WANT! But, you have to not be afraid to ASK THE REAL QUESTIONS, ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT and then of course TAKE THE ACTION STEPS that will lead you to your goals. It will not be easy, but it will be worth it. We must learn to fail and not be afraid to experiment. If we want a change, we have to be willing to make a change. Well, my friends, that change...starts today! Things are slowly starting to change. You may have noticed that I have not been too active here but this past month, my site is getting an upgrade. Well, I owe it to taking the investment and the "quantum leap of faith" into the actors business blueprint. My husband and fellow actor, Corey Snowden, and myself took a free workshop with Dallas Travers in learning how to break the marketing mold. We learned so much that we knew that we had to invest in ourselves, in our careers and take this leap. So we joined the Actors' Business Blueprint as well as the Actor's Breakthrough(starting Oct. 5th.) This really helps the fellow actor take on the mentality that less is more and we should do less more often. I am someone that is not the best at organizing my time, and staying on track. I love shiny objects! lol However, I am happy that my husband is doing this with me for he definitely keeps me on track, but Dallas lays out a simple to follow blueprint in what we need to do daily, monthly etc, as well as really focusing on fewer goals so we can live our ultimate vision. A lot of work has been in the works this past month gearing up to the Actors' Breakthrough but I have already learned so much. I realized I have not fully been committed in going after what I want & setting WAY TOO MANY GOALS that didn't necessary align with my vision. Just from breaking down who I want to work with, what I ultimately want to do and having a schedule and to- do list has been eye opening. I am still not the best, I must admit at the to-do list and sticking to a time, but I am practicing every day to get better. That is all it takes. I'm excited to share my progress with you all as I take in this journey. Get more comfortable with this technology and keep living my dreams and enjoying life by doing less but getting so much more! Be sure to check out Dallas' Blueprint. If you are an actor that is stuck and want to progress your career further, then I HIGHLY recommend it! The link should be attached with the picture! I have been really behind in blogging. I am still getting used to learning the ropes in running websites, so I apologize
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Jennifer SnowdenChanging the World-- One Dream at A Time Archives
January 2019
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