On Friday I came to the conclusion I want to climb a tree.
This realization came on Friday evening around 7pm when I was at work. I was planning to go to a Curren$y concert that night if I got off in time…actually I was hoping my current boo-thang would want to hang out and I was going to skip the concert and be in his presence. He didn’t which made me grumpy and I started acting out. I remembered I hadn’t finished watching this Tony Robbins video from Oprah’s Lifeclass I had pulled up earlier in the day. In the clip he was talking to Oprah about how she had walked across fire as part of his “Unleash the Power Within” seminar. Robbins uses overcoming the fear of walking on fire to help people overcome their biggest fears. That’s when it hit me – I am afraid of climbing trees and I will climb a tree to set myself free. I’ve never climbed a tree-as a kid it seemed so scary. I have always wanted to be adventurous enough to just do it but I was afraid of breaking my arm. (Funny story I have a great little white lie story I tell about jumping out of trees attempting to break my arm in the 4th grade but I digress.)
There was one small issue with the timing of this revelation. It was on Friday…April 20th…4.20 and I was going to a Curren$y concert…yeah so let’s just say as I tried to tell people how I wanted to climb a tree to set myself free, it wasn’t coming off quite the way I had intended. I did find one great listener (asides from my girl Tori who was bout it the moment the idea struck), this awesome WTUL radio personality Miss Lilly was the only one down for my adventure (I think my friends Brit and Nicoya thought I was ON ONE lol). On Saturday morning when I woke up all I could think about was climbing this tree. I’ve been reading up on it and driving around looking for the perfect tree.
I, DaVida Chanel Smith, vow to climb a tree as I attempt to free myself from fear and really live the life I envision. Season one of Lifeclass taught that I’ve always had the power…climbing this tree will teach me that I believe in that power. Oprah said, “The only courage you ever need is the courage to fulfill the dreams of your own life.” I’m summoning the courage…
- I brought in my birthday on stage w/Rebirth Brass Band!
- In August I returned to my waitress gig…I felt sucky about it but on the third day, Tyler Perry came in which made me realize I was on the right track.
- I, along with the rest of the world, mourned the loss of legend, Michael Jackson.
- I started a new feature on my blog called “She Makes Me Wanna” and featured ladies who make me want to do things. I also stared “Friend In My Head” about people that I hang out with in my head.
- I fell in love w/New Orleans … HARD! Because I wasn’t working consistently, I had time to really experience some of the cool things NOLA has to offer. I love this place!
- I spoke to the President of the UNITED STATES! President Barack Obama came to town and I had the opportunity to ask him a question – and it was a good one!
- I threw a mixer at a local club.
- I took a class on Final Cut and learned to edit film.
- I was the female lead in a hip-hop video.
- I had a photo shoot where I was a guitar toting rocker chick.
- I got to see Lenny Kravitz at Voodoo Fest and my friend caught his guitar stick!!!
- I saw Avatar which was amazing to me-visually stunning and it made me fall in love w/3D.
- I got to be assistant to amazing director Clark Johnson on the pilot of Delta Blues, which was written by Liz Garcia and Josh Harto, old friends from L.A.
- The New Orleans Saints won the SUPERBOWL!!!!!!
- I became ok w/the fact that my career had changed forever – I no longer need a M-F, 9-5 existence-I see that my success will come with a whole lot less stability.
- I began doing freelance PR work.
- Josh and Liz’s show got picked up by TNT and I went to work on the show in March.
- My new boss at the job is amazing and she set me up with my next gig starting Aug. 2-directly after this one ends on July 30.
- I organized a community service event for Kourtney Heart called Kourtney’s Little Princesses.
- I worked on the planning and organization of NOLA Summer Jam 2010.
- I began work on a documentary focusing on the hip-hop community in New Orleans. It has fallen apart but I got invaluable experience in case I decide to pursue it on my own.
- I had a reunion with my bestest friends from Indiana!
- I had a fab time at Essence and the highlights were seeing Janet Jackson and watching Mary J. Blige FROM the stage!!!
So yes, the year of 33 was great and full of extreme highs and lows. I’m excited about what is to come in the year of 34! I got a feeling this is going to be a hardworking but fruitful one!
My girlfriend Becky has these two adorable daughters, Dominique and Jaidyn. I’ve never met the girls but like most proud mama’s Becky always tells me stories about them. Dominique reminds me of me at that age – a little bit shy or seeking her place in the world; while Jaidyn reminds me of how I wanted to be – self assured, boisterous, owning her spot in the world. (Now this is not to say anything is wrong w/Dominique’s approach. She appears to be a sweet and lovely young lady but this post is about Ms. Jaidyn.) So the little miss decided to cut her hair because her older sister got bangs. Poor Becky was livid on Facebook – it was kind of funny though b/c she had no idea what to expect.
Yep it was pretty horrible. Her facial expression didn’t help matters much either!
ICON ED LIMATO
July 10, 1936-July 3, 2010
