DARE TO LIVE A LIFE YOU WILL NOT REGRET 

Written by: Chisom Okoye 

DARE TO LIVE A LIFE YOU WILL NOT REGRET 

Dare to take chances, follow your dreams, risk it all, fall in love, believe in yourself, ask questions, let go, make mistakes, start over, speak the truth, take responsibility, find happiness, live for today. – Author Unknown

pastedGraphic.png
(Photo by Aniket Bhattacharya on Unsplash)

Let’s talk about imposter syndrome for a moment, it is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments. Now, let’s talk about how often times we find ourselves in the rabbit hole of self-doubt where we forget our worth and our value, how we lose faith in our abilities because the world has somehow convinced us that everything we want is hard and probably unattainable. 

It is especially hard on us “creatives” who just want to spend the rest of our lives creating magic but are met with the harsh reality that jobs in our respective fields are quickly dying out in this fast-growing digital age. It doesn’t take much after that to become discouraged, even after earning a degree in their passion. 

During one of our enriching journalism meetings at The Vision Room, my colleague Sam (@samstemmer) mentioned something that stuck with me. That when one wants to pursue acting in Hollywood and they are in search for assurance, asking everyone from fellow actors to agents whether or not they will make it or blow up and be successful they are always met with the same answer, “We are not sure, we cannot guarantee you anything, but we do it because it’s worth it and we have so much fun doing it!” This stuck with me because I realize it is important to dare yourself to do things that scare you. Even the thought that we have to decide on what we want to do with the rest of our lives is scary, having fun while doing something that scares you is worth it. 

I agree that jobs related to the Arts and Social Sciences have taken a huge hit, especially during the pandemic and it can be discouraging but maybe we need to look at it from a different perspective. For instance, why do we study what we study with the goal of getting a job? Why don’t we create our own jobs and fill in the gaps we believe need to be filled? 

People do it all the time; people who became successful using their creativity to expand their brands and get their name out there even during a pandemic!  People who are so desperate to do what they love that they decide to pursue what they want to and aren’t afraid to fail! Let’s not just be envious of that kind of energy, instead, let’s build that kind of momentum for ourselves. We have nothing to lose but ourselves if we don’t try! 

pastedGraphic_1.png
(Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash)

So, since The Vision Room is all about finding solutions and making a positive impact in your journey, here are a links with a few tips I would like to share a few articles that I hope help you on your journey to discovery and owning your life’s journey today! 

https://tinybuddha.com/blog/7-tips-pursuing-passion-even-if-you-feel-behind/ 

https://www.themuse.com/advice/do-what-you-love-how-to-identify-pursue-your-passions 

https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/7-ways-you-can-make-time-for-your-passion.html 

https://hbr.org/2019/10/3-reasons-its-so-hard-to-follow-your-passion 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/francesbridges/2019/08/30/5-tips-to-help-you-find-your-passion/?sh=6a97f37f2947

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/find-your-passion_b_6798766 

Photography References: 

Photo by Aniket Bhattacharya on Unsplash 

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash 

An interview with The Budgetnista

Transcribed by Jimmysodope 

(Instagram @budgetnista)

 

James Frazier — My favorite thing about financial experts is that they
weren’t always financial experts. They often experience a fall from
grace then eventually reach a breaking point. Their stories remind us
that we won’t always get it right but we can learn and grow to make
the most out of unexpected changes. Tiffany Aliche knows this as well
as anyone. I had a conversation with The Budgetnista about her new
book titled “Get Good With Money” and what’s changed since the release
of her literary debut, “The One Week Budget”.

Tiffany Aliche — I’ll give an example. Literally, the book came out 10
years ago. 2011. And a friend of mine just bought a camera and he was
like what are you doing. I’m like nothing and he was like bring your
book to Barnes and Nobles. I said ok. Got to Barnes and Nobles. Got
dressed in the bathroom. Asked my friend who did makeup to do my
makeup in the bathroom. Put my book on the shelf and proceeded to do a
photoshoot. The manager comes over and was like you can’t do that.
Take this book off the shelf girl! Now yesterday I go to the bookstore
and my book is on the shelf. In that same section. So that’s how life
is different. It’s like the things I wished for are actually
happening.

JF — More than one million books are published in the United States
every year. That’s about. 2,700 new titles per day. I asked Tiffany
what made it so important for the world to receive “Get Good With
Money” now?

TA — Well I mean I think we all know pandemic, quarantine, job loss,
people worried about losing their homes. I wrote this book in the
beginning of all that. And into all of that because I saw how many
people were struggling. Especially our people. And I thought where’s a
guide. A simple easy to read and navigate guide that takes you from
the beginning of your financial journey through till the end.

JF — The national low-income housing coalition reported that 30–40
million people may have been evicted from their homes by the end of
2020. As of February 2021, there were 4.2 million more unemployed
people than in February 2020, which is a month before the pandemic
began. With stats like these, Get Good With Money couldn’t have
arrived at a better time.

JF — The ten steps to financial wholeness are budgeting, savings,
debt, credit, learning to earn. Then the next layers are investing,
insurance, net worth, your money team or financial professionals, and
estate planning. I thought no matter where you are in life, folks need
help getting to the next level. So I created financial wholeness and I
organized these steps to build upon each other. I thought if people
reached 100% financial wholeness which is just when these ten
components come together to create your most solid financial
foundation where you can build anything you want on that foundation.
You can reach any of your goals on that foundation.

JF — The Budgetnista apparently has a vision for the world but i
sensed special kinda love for Newark.

TA — Well I was born here in Saint Michaels Hospital. Then I was
raised partially in Roselle, NJ. And then I spent a lot of my
childhood in Westfield, NJ. Then as an adult, I came back here to
Newark. I started first by teaching. Taught here like I said for just
about 10 years and then I moved here. I think Newark is a diamond in
the rough. I think a lot of people have a lot to say about Newark but
let them cherry blossoms pop then all y’all in our park. Let the
museum have something and I can’t even get parking at the museum.
Bussing out to Weequahic. People have so much to say until they want
to use Newark for its resources. So I feel protective over Newark like
a big cousin.

JF — As the world reopens there will be an abundance of opportunities
for families to bounce back but it definitely starts at home. It
starts in the mind. Tiffany explains why it’s so important for our
community to absorb Get Good With Money.

TA — Going through it alone for example is like going through therapy.
You might be able to work through your childhood trauma on your own
but maybe that takes you 10 years and with therapy, it could have
taken you 10 months. Instead of trying to figure out things on your
own, that’s why guides like this are written. Someone told me this
ain’t no financial book Tiffany. This is like a memoir because I share
my story of how I messed all my finances up and how I fixed it. A
guide because it’s step by step this is how you achieve financial
wholeness and self-help because along the way I’m coaching you to
greatness. And so yea I think Get Good With Money at
getgoodwithmoney.com is the best present I can leave you with.

– I’m James Frazier, in Newark.

Creativity Off the Grid

Written by Neha Seenarine

Location: Fairfield, Connecticut

Chris Carbone, 21, is an aspiring filmmaker and screenwriter from Fairfield, Connecticut whose path to becoming a filmmaker is almost exclusively behind closed doors. His phone does not buzz with dozens of notifications throughout his day. “I could care less about attracting attention through social media,” said Carbone. “I want my material to be seen and for people to take away something.”

During the past three years, he spent countless hours improving this craft. He said, “I always look at where I am in the present, and I look where I was a year before, then I look at how far I’ve come. Then I think about where I can be in a year from now. That’s what keeps me going.”

Carbone has his script-writing routine down to a tee. He starts his day at 6 a.m. with his morning workout. Then he drives to the local library, sits down, and gets to work. His drafts are created using a typewriter. When asked about this choice he replied, “It’s not a vanity thing, it really helps writing first drafts because you can’t go back and erase things as you would do on a laptop. The first draft is the vomit draft. You vomit all these despairing ideas.”

Once his first draft is finished, he ghosts it. He lets his drafts marinate for two weeks before doing a readthrough and making edits.  Carbone’s reasoning is, “You need some time away from it. There is no perspective when a draft is created for the time. It makes a shift in those two perceptions and it is mentally jarring.”

Carbone is very critical of his own work. If the final draft does not satisfy him, he will re-write scripts doing 10 to 20 drafts. “I will be okay with it for a while,” said Carbone. “Then, I’ll say it’s not a final draft. I’ll go back and I’ll work on it some more. Whether that helps or harms it, I don’t know however I believe every creative effort I make is an improvement. I look at drafts I’ve written a year ago. They seem hollow and flat, not something I would want to see on a screen. I have returned to those scripts and re-worked them. I can’t throw an entire script in drawer and not look at them. I am very selective with the kinds of the stories I want to tell and spend many hours creating.”

When the creative process ends, Carbone goes on a film agent hunt reaching out to them over email and the waiting game to hear feedback begins. “I generally feel excited,” said Carbone. “It’s very difficult to get a response. When interest is generated, hope rises inside of me. I know it is a cutthroat business, so I don’t let that hope soar too high.”

Carbone has produced three short films. He works with micro-budget using the resources he has available to him. For instance, local locations, friends for actors, and his iPhone to shoot scenes and every film he makes comes with a learning curve.

“When I look at the first two, I cringe at it,” said Carbone. “The redeeming qualities are the storylines. I feel better about my third film because I learned more about editing, sound, and music. I did the score myself, however I did not write it. I put it together later through GarageBand, a digital audio workstation, I’m not a musician.”

Carbone’s films are inspired by his personal environment. His knowledge of the film industry did not come from classes taught by professors. He learned by watching films, reading books and screenplays. His perspective became more diverse by watching films from different cultures.

“I look in all places for stories,” said Carbone. “It helps develop characters in aspects of where they come from for my stories.”

Although Carbone is in the beginning stages of creating art, promotion through social media is not an obstacle he faces. “I don’t know yet that I feel like I’ve made something good enough of promoting,” said Carbone. “When I do, I plan on submitting films to festivals and see what kind attention it would attract. I would consider making a social media page strictly for my films.”

You can check out Carbone’s short films found here.