“I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I’ve become. If I had, I’d have done it a lot earlier.”-Oprah Winfrey

The Facebook interview with Oprah Winfrey could not have come to me at a better time. Today (Sept 9th) markers the 25th anniversary of Oprah becoming the first African-American woman to host a nationally-syndicated talk show. It also comes after my week-long visit to Chicago, my birthplace.  Most importantly, this interview came at one of those times that all people have, creative people especially, where I started to wonder if I was on the right path spiritually, professionally, geographically, etc.

When Oprah said this, it became clear to me: This path is uncharted, and will always be uncertain, because I am the only one who has ever walked it.

As an inspiration junkie, I love scouring the internet for stories, videos, songs, any piece of media that inspires me. However, maybe what I’m really searching for is proof. Proof that someone like me can do this. Become a filmmaker with no formal training. Translate counseling and psychology and an obsession with media into a career that helps other artists. Another black woman from Chicago who made a drastic career change in their late-20s and lived to tell the tale.

I will not find that story. I have to make it.

The story that I am looking for is my story, and it is never-ending. I don’t know if each item on my to-do list will bring me closer to the life I want, but I can try, and I can learn along the way.

I feel better now. While I continue to go down my to-do list and balance planning with action, I will accept that I am creating this path as I go, and the best inspiration I can receive is from those who have done the same.

Happy Friday

Note: If you like this post and want to support, please go to my about.me page (http://about.me/chakkareeves) and vote for my page to appear in a Times Square billboard! Thank you.

Hurricane Irene passed through the East Coast, causing billions of dollars worth of damage and at least 20 deaths. And yet, some people are not impressed.

Many people, primarily in metropolitan areas, question whether the level one hurricane/tropical storm was worth the precautions taken, or if the media over-hyped it.

To which I say: Get a grip.

Part of the ceiling in my apartment came down. My car flooded. Down the street, the wind uprooted a huge tree, slamming it in on to a parked car, destroying it.

But what can you do? After calling Liberty Mutual any way, what can you actually do in situations like this? Accept them.

Natural disasters don’t need your approval or validation. They are reminders in our type-A society that there remain things that we can’t control, and in a way, this applies to most things we think we have control over. Your favorite music festival was cancelled, or your flight to the Caymens was grounded, or you had to wait in line while you and other human beings prepared for days without lights, cooking heat or access to take-out Chinese food.Yes, Irene totally cramped your style. Consider that maybe, Irene, and even last week’s earthquake were reminders that life isn’t about to-do list and “plans,” though it makes us feel good to have them. Ultimately, our lives are uncertain. Accept this fact, and you can still enjoy it in a meaningful way.

Note: If you like this post and want to support, please go to my about.me page (http://about.me/chakkareeves) and vote for my page to appear in a Times Square billboard! Thank you.

UPDATE: One of my readers informed me that the page has been removed. A cache version of it can be found here for a limited time:

I came across the IndieGogo campaign for “Gang of Roses 2″ after reading on an entertainment website that Amber Rose had been added to the cast of the movie. A Google search yielded the IndieGogo page for the project, which can be found here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Gang-of-Roses-2 (inactive as of 3:18pm EST, 7/28/2011)

A short story:

A friend and I attended an event held by the Philadelphia Film Office last year. We were mingling, laughing and munching on fantastic mini cupcakes, when a man passed me. Without saying a word, he dropped a package into my hands and walked off, without even making eye contact.

I showed the package to my friend. “He is at every film event I go to in Philly” she said, rolling her eyes.

As soon as I got home, my partner and I took the pieces of the package apart. Folded in a piece of paper, we found the following:

*Two recordable discs, with “Movies” written on one and “Music” written on the other, both in black Sharpie pen

*A press release on orange construction paper

* A story about the filmmaker, written for a fake publication

Not long after we hit “play” on the CD marked “Music,” we realized that it was just a play list of songs. Pretty good songs, but not songs from his work like we thought.

Next: The CD marked “Movies.” It was a mix of interviews, clips from some of his films, and heavy use of Word Art and the “flying” transition effect.

After my partner and I stopped laughing, we realized something: Regardless of the filmmaker’s taste level, he was 1) Productive and 2) Getting his message out there, two things that are essential to making a living as a creative professional. It was clear, however, that he had not taken time to develop his craft, cultivate resources, and evolve his taste level. The production value of his work was woefully poor, as were his marketing methods. Sure he got his work into my hands (literally) but he didn’t engage me. I’m not checking for his future projects, other than for more examples of what NOT to do.

This post is the start of a weekly series on Freedomreeves.com called “The Creative Toolbox.” It’s about the balance we must navigate in order to create creative careers that are 1) Fulfilling, 2) Sustaining (financially and creatively) and 3) Productive.

I’m writing this series as someone who is putting my creative toolbox together, and helping others do the same. I will share my methods, reflections and the resources that I’m using. Even though this series will have a “how-to,” vibe, it is coming from a “how-I” place. The most important thing I have learned thus far is there is no “right way” for everyone, just the right way for you.

Stay tuned as I blog about finding my “toolbox.”

Peace,
Freedom

I grew up in a time before gossip blogs blurred the line between the sensational and informational. Because of the history of the written word, people are conditioned to see something in print as having more credibility than, say a talk show or radio show. News shows and publications need experts, statistics, sources, while a blog need only say that they got their information from a “credible source” before the information is spread far and wide.

Especially if the news is about perennial click-draw and rapper girlfriend Amber Rose.

When her graphic photos were leaked on the Internet last week, spellcheck-phobic gossip site Mediatakeout.com attached a story from a so-called credible insider about how Amber had sent the pictures to rumored boyfriend of Nicki Minaj, Safaree Samuels, on the night of her birthday party. How awful! The skank! Once a ho, always a ho and so forth.

While the pictures of Rose were authentic, the story turned out to be pure fabrication. Nicki Minaj even send out a tweet in defense of her friend.

If this were a newspaper, a retraction would have been printed, but Media Take Out is not journalism. We’re talking about a site that is known for pushing the boundaries of good taste, grammar, relevance, and above all, truth.

I know all of this, and I have a context for it. I also know that tabloids news is much older than the Internet. What troubles me is the generation of web-surfing teens and pre-teens that are growing up after me, ones that don’t know the difference between news and gossip, the difference between sources and hear-say. The fact that Huffington Post links to the site further blurs the line.

Regardless of how you feel about celebutantes like Rose, no one deserves to be lied about. The truth is all we have, and that’s what real journalism is about. We also need to be critical of a media culture that thrives on judging those who are deemed less worthy of legitimate celebrity. The people that comment on gossip sites, asking why someone is news-worthy are asking an important, albeit, miss-worded question. The question should be: Why is this person the chosen target for our collective judgement and ridicule this week? Readers: What do you think?

If you want to know more about my thoughts on blogs and media/celebrity culture, check out one of my older posts: The Attention Economy.

I woke up one night choking, wheezing, water streaming from my eyes, down my cheeks.

I scrambled to the bathroom and instinctively placed a wet towel over my face. After 25 minutes, my airways opened up. Two days later, I saw a doctor who told me that my indoor allergies have gotten worse. I took to my room, emptied it, cleaned the carpet, dusted, got an air purifier, but to no avail. For the next few weeks I was unable to sit in my own room without coughing and wheezing. After eliminating other factors, there was one left: Mold. I live in an old house, and a water leak had been forming at the window frame next to my bed. I asked my landlord if he could check and have the mold removed.

He said, in so many words, that he had already spent enough money on our apartment complex, and if my allergies were that bad, I could be let out of my lease (Sidenote: In the great state of PA, property owners are not required to remove mold).

The idea of looking for another apartment made my head spin. In the past three years, I have moved about four times. I can’t, I thought. I can’t move my stuff again. I can’t go on another wild Craigslist chase, looking at apartments with extremely misleading pictures, people renting out overpriced closets, or renting out living rooms as bedrooms. At my core, moving made me feel unstable, transient. I didn’t want to go thought that again.

Then it hit me: What am I blocking? Your landlord is letting you out of your lease with no penalty, and you can find a place that is a better fit for you. Something with more space, something newer and better constructed, and above all, won’t make you sick.
So, I took a deep breath and said,  ”I am allowing my ideal space to come in. I am allowing the best place for me to come in, and I’m allowing the conditions I will need to get this space, to come in.”

“Don’t block your blessings.”

When I’ve heard this phrase in the past, it was said in relation to not seeking revenge for someone who’s wronged you, or doing something unethical to satisfy an immediate need. But there’s another, more pervasive way that we blocked our blessings on a regular basis.

When I started learning about the Law of Attraction, I started reading “Ask and It Is Given” by Abraham-Hicks (Esther and Jerry Hicks). I liked the idea of putting clear intention and focus on your goals, and affirming that those things are in the present. One part of the teachings that I didn’t fully buy, however, was the idea of “allowing.” “Allowing” is the belief that good surrounds us all the time, that our lives are suppose to be rich and joyful, but we block those things from coming into our lives.

Block? I thought. I’m not blocking anything. I have to actively work for everything I want, how can I be metaphysically shutting the door to it at the same time? However, I caught myself doing just that, when I learned that I might have to move again.

I’m still looking, but with a different outlook. Since this started, the landlord removed the source of the leak, I got a bigger air purifier, and I was able to sleep in my room for five hours the other night before I woke up coughing.

The point is, be very mindful when you start saying “I can’t” to yourself. Instead of resisting the change, open up and ask: “What am I allowing at this moment?”

Being present is a key practice of happy people, but when you are moving towards a goal, it’s easy to slip into being future-oriented. Thinking about the future can encourage your to reach goals, and plan for the kind of reality that you want, but it can also produce anxiety, fearful thinking, and make you lose perspective of the progress you’ve made.

Frank Ocean, a member of Odd Future and one of the most unique, talented and promising song-writers in the industry right now, posted a conversation he would have with his five-years ago self if he could.

I like  this because it helps us gain perspective of how far we have come, and how far we can still go. It’s also a reminder of how quickly things can change.

A letter to my 23-year-old self would look something like this:

Dear C,

Where to start? The grad program is cool, but it will not have the purpose in your life that you think it will. You already sense this though, so just trust your instincts. Also, you’re not going to marry him, and it’s for the best. You already have a sense of this too though. Keep writing. Don’t try to qualify it or tie it into a “real” career path, just keep doing it. You can make a living off of your obsessions and fascinations, but it will be another few years before you fully let go and do it. The urge to switch gears will become stronger down the road. You are not a flake, and you’re not having a “quarter-life crisis.” You know what you want, it’s just that your ability to suck it up and do work that doesn’t inspire you or call on your strengths is dwindling. The missteps weren’t missteps after all. It was all a part of the plan. Right now you are happy, in love, healthy, and busy. Fear will become like a pebble in your shoe, not anything like the rock in your stomach it is now. You are in the neural zone now, the “in-between time.” You will come out. And life will be great.

What letter would you write to yourself, five years ago? Send me a link to it, or write it in the comments section.