Preparing For the Storm

This is my final posting for March and the close of this year’s first quarter. For the three readers that have been with me since January, you remember that I set out to accomplish “one thing each month.” We’re three months in, one quarter in, and I’m gonna take a second to recap my year thus far…

JANUARY
STEPPING ON A FEW TOES successfully completed another run by participating in Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2012.

FEBRUARY
I participated in another installment of URBAN LEGENDS, a poetry showcase held several times a year in Hollywood, CA.

I co-directed the short play THE BLACK HISTORY OF POLITICS written by Justin Key.

MARCH
I was a featured guest on the Rare Woman show, and the interview can be heard here: http://gvbradio.com/archives/rarewoman-031612.mp3

With one quarter down and three to go, the year is officially underway. We are IN folks! I’m both excited and nervous as I know there is something different about 2012. There is something fundamentally different about this year. I can’t put my finger on it, and I can’t put it into words. I just know that there are some major forces at work: good and bad, and to make any substantial headway I’m gonna have to keep my battle suit on at all times. I feel like this will be my toughest year yet, and possibly my most rewarding at the same time. I just pray I have the courage to keep going when all hell breaks lose, ‘cause it’s gonna happen. So I ask: will you stand with me? Will you commit to facing fear head on and continuing when the windstorms of life knock you down? Ugh…windstorms…they can be tricky and mighty powerful. Let’s prepare and brace ourselves now. You with me?

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

The Missing Ingredient

What keeps a person’s head on straight when they experience set-backs? Repeated kicks in the face? What makes that person continue? The cleaning solution Formula 409 is called 409 because it took the inventors four hundred and nine tries to get the formula right. Four hundred and eight failed attempts. Four HUNDRED and eight. Talk about belief! Those brothers had it by the truckloads! Good grief! I’ve heard, “If at first you don’t succeed; try, try again,” but who tries four hundred and eight times? I mean, seriously? Who does that? Not many, but they did. They tried, they tried, and then they tried some more because they truly believed they were on to something. Today “409” is a household name because a group of brothers refused to give up. I don’t know about four hundred and eight failed attempts, but I do know that it’s tough to get up and clean yourself off once you’ve been drug through the mud. It’s even tougher to get back on course to the finish line. I don’t believe there’s anyone that would argue that point. The question I’m asking is, “What is that ‘thing’ that an individual needs to not only get up, but to also get back on course?” What’s it take? Clearly not everyone has it or at least not everyone is willing to exercise it. What is it and why isn’t it sold in stores? I think if it were in pill form it’d sell off the shelves in the blink of an eye. Everyone wants it. Everyone wants to be like the 409 brothers, like Colonel Sanders, like Tyler Perry. Everyone wants to have a story to tell. Everyone would love to tell their kids and grandkids about how they fought their way to the top. But most never will. Most will never tell such tales to their loved ones because most will run and hide when they get their first slap in the face. Why are they running? Why are they hiding? What are they missing? What don’t they have that the select few seem to have too much of? What is the missing ingredient? If I knew that my four hundred and ninth attempt would be the winner, I would do everything in my power to get through the four hundred and eight failures – wouldn’t you? You already know that once you hit 4-0-9 you’ve hit gold, so just get through the rubbish as fast as you can! But don’t you see? The brothers had no idea how many failed formulas it would take. Colonel Sanders had no idea how many doors he’d have to knock on before someone was willing to buy his secret recipe. And Tyler Perry certainly didn’t know he’d have to be homeless before he was able to own a mansion. They had no idea. WE have no idea. None of us know how far away the finish line is or what set-backs we’ll have to go through before getting there. But the one thing they all had that most lack is faith. Believing without seeing. That’s the key. That’s the missing ingredient. If there is anything you want to accomplish, any goal you’re trying to reach, I’m gonna tell you right now, it won’t get done without faith. You can mark my word on that one.

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

Photos from Rare Woman Radio Interview

I Need You

I’m gonna detour briefly from STEPPING ON A FEW TOES and talk about relationships today. Ok, so I’m not completely driving off-road, but you get my drift. Over the past few weeks I’ve met with different friends for one reason or another, and have, in most cases, shared with them the inner turmoil I’ve been experiencing. And in each case that I shared, each friend had some words of wisdom for me – and they weren’t the same words. Each of them had something special, something worthwhile, or some meaningful tidbit to encourage me. It kind of left me scratching my head wondering why the heck I hadn’t called them sooner!

Then one of them talked to me about the importance of maintaining meaningful relationships. If there is someone in our lives that is important to us we HAVE to make the necessary effort to maintain that relationship. We have to. And it’s almost for our own good – not theirs. Not to say they won’t benefit from the camaraderie, but we, ourselves, need people. My strength and independence can be my greatest qualities and my biggest hindrances at the same time, and I’m finally seeing that. Being strong and independent isn’t nearly as attractive as I believed it was. I’ve always thought that “weak, needy, and helpless” were not only synonyms, but also attributes of a lesser being. Definitely not words that I’d ever want to be associated with me – God no. But I’m learning. It is a process, but I am, indeed, learning.

So to the people that I hold near and dear to my heart, you will begin to hear from me a bit more frequently. I owe it to you to let you know how much you mean to me, and I owe it to myself because I need you, and I’m finally at a place where I’m comfortable saying that.

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

Do You Hear What I Hear?

So for those that missed it, my radio interview is now available for your listening pleasure via the link below:

CLICK HERE: http://gvbradio.com/archives/rarewoman-031612.mp3

There’s no video footage so this is one that you can let play while you prepare dinner or do the dishes. Consider it background noise that sounds like me yammering on for a bit. Once you’ve had a chance to listen, please – oh please, be a dear and leave a comment on my Facebook on here on the blog. That would be super awesome.

That’s all for today. I’d rather you spend your time listening as opposed to reading my random thoughts today. So there you have it! […there it is…there you go]

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

Replacing Ryan Seacrest

You know what?? Before I get started with anything I’m going to take three seconds to remind my one or two faithful readers that tomorrow is my birthday. For fear of beating a dead horse, I’ll leave it at that.

So! Well you can’t see me grinning over here, but the interview was a success! I really can’t imagine a way that it could have gone any better. Thank you to all of the supporters of the Rare Woman show and thank you to any of my supporters that were able to catch the live broadcast. Your support meant the world. As I mentioned, I’d never done a radio interview before, and it’s very easy to get the feeling that you’re speaking to thin air. It’s not like live theatre where you can see, feel, taste and smell your audience. It’s radio. Maybe they’re tuned in and maybe they’re not. Who knows… So the best feeling in the world was sixty seconds after the show was over, my phone rang and it was my dear friend Vince, and I immediately knew that he’d been listening to the live broadcast. Yes! I wasn’t talking to thin air. Then after I hung up with Vince, one of the hosts shared with me a couple of texts that had come in from listeners commenting on something that I’d said. What!?!? People were actually listening! Now ya’ll are just gonna have to give me a second. My name isn’t Ryan Seacrest, and I’m not a radio personality. I’m not accustomed to speaking into the mic on the daily. That’s not my deal – so you’ll forgive me for being overly thrilled to learn that listeners actually listened! Yeah, I’m kind of amazed. (Shut up – I know it doesn’t take much.)

I’m not gonna spend a lot of time here going into the details of the interview itself. It will soon be available to share with you, so I’ll wait until then so that you’re able to draw your own conclusions (should you choose to listen). Just know that it was a great experience. Very fulfilling, very encouraging, and very uplifting – for me! It was great! And I have to say thank you to the Rare Woman platform for allowing me to share my story with their listeners. They are an amazing bunch of women, and I’m grateful to know each of them.

So, yes…you can add it to my resume. I do radio now and I’m gunning for Ryan’s job.

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

Live On the Air

For all those that are able to listen live, I will be interviewed on the Rare Woman radio show today (Fri, Mar 16^th) at 4pm pst. You can listen online by going to www.gvbradio.com and listening on CHANNEL 2. If you are unable to catch the live broadcast, not to worry it will be available for download thereafter. Thank you to all those that have sent well wishes as this will be my first radio interview. #veryexcited

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