Won’t You Join Me?

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I’ve had a minute or two to reflect and process the events of this past weekend and I’m still blown away – and for so many different reasons.  First off…I’ve PUBLISHED MY FIRST BOOK.  What?!?  Who in the world do I think I am??  What in the world do I think I’m doing??  My goodness.  I think perhaps I’ve surprised myself with this one.  This was not in the plans.  It was never a goal of mine.  Even still, a manuscript was written and Still Standing is the result.  Wow.  Note to all reading this post:  believe you me…ANYTHING is possible.  Even those things that you haven’t completely thought out yet – even those things are possible.  Even the things that you keep getting ready to get ready to do.  Yep.  Even those things are possible – if you’re willing to work.  Make no mistake about it, none of it comes easily and every bit of it is the result of focus, determination, dedication, and boatloads of drive.  But that’s not what I wanted to write about today so let’s just stick a pin in that for the moment.

Not only have I published my first book, I had my official book release in a Manhattan bookstore and the house was packed.  Ok, those are all good things, but what I’m most excited about is the reception.  Still Standing was received with open arms, hearts, and minds.  After the show I was greeted with far more warmth, kindness, and adoration that I ever expected.  An extremely humbling experience, indeed.  It really was.  And to take it a step further than that…I had family drive up from North Carolina to attend the event.  I had a cousin drive in from DC to attend the event.  And I had a North Carolina Facebook friend attend so that we could finally put faces to names.  It was super incredible and a totally jaw-dropping experience for me.  I had supporters come that I’d only met and seen one time before, and then there were many dear friends who wouldn’t miss it for the world.  For sure it’s one of those things that I will never forget.  That – I’m certain of.

I’ll close with this:  that will not be my last book reading/signing event and Still Standing will not be my last book.  This is just the beginning.  I have no idea where this ride will take me, but I am strapped in and ready to go, because I’ve got a feeling that this one is gonna’ be good.  I hope you come with me.

My name is Jasmynne Shaye, and this is me STEPPING ON A FEW TOES. 

Keeping Your Cool: Part II

Last time I talked about being your true self and today I want to talk about pursuing your dream.  With the only disclaimer being:  as long as your dreams don’t involve you bringing harm to another, you should always pursue them.  Always.  It is really as simple as that and this is something I will not budge on.

Every single human being is born with an innocent, pure curiosity about life, and as they enter childhood they begin to formulate dreams without having to be told to do so.  It just happens as a natural progression of their thoughts.  And kids’ toys play right into their fantasies and the land of make-believe they create for themselves.  Toddlers are fascinated with simple things such as preparing pretend meals in their pretend kitchens and being cashiers at their pretend cash registers, counting their pretend money and bagging the make-believe groceries.  And as the child matures, so do their dreams.  They migrate from wanting to run the express lane at the grocery store to wanting to sing, draw, play the guitar, dance, act, paint and so forth.  And all the while all the older, wiser adults in their lives continue to tell them that they can be and do anything they put their minds to.  These children are told that the sky is the limit and that the world is their oyster, and they fully believe it – they have no reason not to.  But somehow when these same wide-eyed kids become adults they begin talking like all hope is lost, and I can’t quite understand why because that’s the exact opposite of what they were told as kids.  All of a sudden they are saying things like:

“I’ve got to be realistic.”

“I’m too old for that.”

“When I was younger…”

“Now that I’m older…”

“I used to want to…”

Where did this defeatist attitude come from???  What?  Something didn’t go your way once and you immediately threw your hands up in surrender?   You got knocked down a time or two and felt it necessary to completely call it quits?  Or was it that others didn’t believe in you so you stopped believing in yourself?  What presence or what force came into your life that was powerful enough to make you to give up on you?  What was it?  Who was it?  Well whatever or whoever it was is no good for you and doesn’t deserve a second of your energy.  Your dreams, goals and aspirations are very attainable no matter what you’ve come to believe; and it’s while you’re in pursuit of those ambitions that you really begin to learn your true character.  The real you begins to come alive because you’re now living with purpose which is exciting.  And that brings us back to Part I of this article (see link below):  being your true self.

If you’re living your life suppressing your dreams you aren’t being true to you and you’re denying yourself buckets of happiness.  Don’t you feel you’re worth more than that?  Don’t you deserve to live your life to the fullest and completely enjoy every shred of joy your life could bring?  Why not?  Why sit on the sidelines watching others achieve?  Why not experience a taste of that life for yourself?  Believe me; it’s VERY possible.

My name is Jasmynne Shaye, and this is me STEPPING ON A FEW TOES. 

Part I of this article can be found here:  http://steppingonafewtoes.blogspot.com/2013/05/keeping-your-cool-part-i.html

photo:  http://sajabla.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/cool.jpg

Don't Waste A Single Quarter

The calendar year is broken up into four quarters:

-- Q1 – Jan, Feb, Mar

-- Q2 – Apr, May, Jun

-- Q3 – Jul, Aug, Sep

-- Q4 – Oct, Nov, Dec

When you look at it this way, it seems much more manageable in terms of setting goals and formulating a plan to reach them.  “Twelve months” sounds so daunting, but four quarters sounds doable; and three months sounds even better than that!

Take a look at that breakdown above…Quarter 1 is done.  It’s over and gone and we are well into Quarter 2.  And when Quarter 2 comes to an end that’s half of our year that we can kiss good-bye.  It really moves much quicker than you think, doesn’t it?  But no matter how you slice and dice it, it’s still 365 days.  It’s still 52 weeks.  It’s still 12 months.

Don’t be afraid to set goals, and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.  It’s only then that you really get to see what you’re made of – seriously.  You don’t know that you can leap a tall building until you try it.  If the only challenges you set for yourself are the ones you know you can manage – well that’s not really a challenge is it?

Test your limits and push your boundaries.  Find out who you are and what you’re made of.  You won’t know until you try.  And stop being afraid to fail.  Anyone worth their salt knows that failure is a necessary part of success.  The two go hand in hand.  It’s impossible to have one without the other.  Really.

So dig in there.  Set a goal for yourself.  Dream a little bigger than you did last year, and get ready to inspire others – because everyone’s watching. 

My year so far…

JANUARY

I received the final version and accompanying products for my STILL STANDING logo.  STILL STANDING is my personal message of survival that will be the final bit of punctuation necessary to round out my brand.  Items aren’t yet available for purchase, but they soon will be.  I want to thank Spencer Owens and his wonderful team at 1Six5 Designs for making my dream a reality.

FEBRUARY

I received the final word that STEPPING ON A FEW TOES would have its east coast debut in New York City on the campus of College of Mount Saint Vincent.

MARCH

STEPPING ON A FEW TOES had a successful east coast premiere in New York City on the campus of College of Mount Saint Vincent.  This presentation of the show was a part of the school’s tribute to Women’s History Month. 

I joined forces with, Bell Curves, one of the leading test prep agencies in New York.  The group offers test prep to populations that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to obtain such services. 

That it all for now.

My name is Jasmynne Shaye, and this is me STEPPING ON A FEW TOES. 

photo:  www.stockfreeimages.com  

NO FEAR

There are a hundred other things I should probably be doing right now to get ready for tonight’s performance, but at this very moment, I’m feeling the need to write – so here I am.  And I’m gonna try to make it quick.

To anyone who may be reading this, and to the people that you verbally share it with:  don’t be afraid to dream and don’t be afraid to be different.  Don’t be afraid to take chances and don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

I sit before you right now as a girl whose family hails from the rural township of Leland, NC.  It’s so small and unknown that it’s so much easier to tell people that your family is from Wilmington.  As if Wilmington is a metropolis, right?  But thanks to Michael Jordan, most people have at least heard of it. 

I digress…

My family is filled with hardworking people that followed societal norms by either going to college and then work, or getting jobs straight out of high school.  But at a very young age I knew I didn’t want to do that but I was embarrassed and ashamed to speak of my dreams to my family for fear of ridicule.  I even remember a conversation with my father when he said, “You want to major in something that will allow you to get a real job.”  Ouch.  Yep.  That stung a little. 

But when I made the decision to leave North Carolina for Los Angeles, I was an adult (so to speak) and no one could stop me – and it was by far one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.  I won’t take the time right now to catalog my entire LA experience, but if not for Los Angeles, there would be no STEPPING ON A FEW TOES. 

LA isn’t even a theatre town and I managed to mount my show eight times over the course of four years.  A one-woman show…in Los Angeles…a town where everyone and everything is fake, here I was sharing a slice of reality and they were listening.  I was blown away.

Fast forward and I have the wacky idea of heading back to my east coast roots, but this time the plane would take me to New York.  A one-way ticket.  Because I believe this is where my show is supposed to be.  And tonight…this evening of March 6^th, STEPPING ON A FEW TOES will be making its east coast premiere right here in New York City.  Please understand that I’m nowhere near finished, and I have in no way “arrived” but a dream of mine is being realized tonight, and I need you to believe that the same is very possible for you.

I love you guys for reading and supporting. 

Don’t be afraid to dream. 

Don’t be afraid to be different. 

Don’t be afraid to take chances. 

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

My name is Jasmynne Shaye, and this is me STEPPING ON A FEW TOES.