Hi Friends,
Let's continue our focus on celebrating women this month. The theme this year for National Women's Month is diversity. Here you go. We will highlight a first time Oscar winner.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph opened up about her recent Oscar win last week. The 37-year-old actress spoke to Variety after winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing the role of Mary Lamb, a grieving cafeteria manager, in The Holdovers.
“God is so good, God is so good,” said the 'Holdovers' star, holding back tears.
“I think I was supposed to be doing this as a career. I started off as a singer, and my mother said to me, ‘Go across that street to that theater department. There’s something for you there.’ I thank my mother for doing that.”
“A thank you to all the people who have stepped in my path and been there for me, who have ushered me and guided me,” she continued. “I am so grateful to all you beautiful people out here. For so long, I’ve always wanted to be different, and now I realize I just need to be myself.”
Randolph then specifically thanked her Yale School of Drama professor, Ron Van Lieu. “When I was the only Black girl in that class, when you saw me and you told me I was enough. And when I told you, I don’t see myself, he said, ‘That’s fine. We’re going to forge our own path. You’re going to lay a trail for yourself.’”
That speech did not just inspire me but millions more. When she said that she always wanted to be different, until she finally realized in her 30's to just be herself...that was huge. It is not easy to "just be ourselves". Society, family, church, everyone has a path for us and a cookie cutter mold for us to fit in. And boy, do we try. Until one day, hopefully, we realize it's just too hard to try to be someone else. We were created to live our life's purpose, not someone else's. I love what her drama professor told her:
"We are going to forge our own path."
Oh, I love that. And how do we do that, you might ask? Well, there's no laid out plan. There's no straight line that you follow. It's not easy. As he said, we forge a path.
It takes work, sweat, persistence, tears and set backs. And it also takes courage, the next step, willingness to continue, an encouraging word, a helping hand, a resilience and a fortitude and an "I'm not giving up" attitude. We can learn from Da'vine. She kept forging her path. And that's why we celebrate National Women's Month; because we inspire and motivate each other with our actions, big or small.
You and I might not have a platform like the Oscars, but we have people in our lives who look at us and see a light, an inspiration, a little push to keep on going.
I loved how a group of seasoned actresses stood in a half circle to welcome her on stage. A group of women who have gone before her and welcomed her. I saw inclusivity. I saw acceptance. I saw love. I saw pride. We truly stand on the shoulders of those who have walked before us. I find it fascinating when I have clients who find their way back to a part of themselves they had forgotten.
The giggly girl inside of them
The creative poet
The adventurous girl
The one who stands up for herself
The one who learns to speak her opinion
The one who finds her way back to "I can try new things"
The woman who finds her wisdom again
The woman who gets back to grounding herself
Who inspires you? What part do you want to explore? What gift do you want to unwrap and unfold? Whose shoulders are you standing on?
Be inspired and take a step into your new path.
This week's affirmation:
I allow myself to be me
Isabelle
PS. Message me for a free consult to start moving to a more confident you.
You are loved.
Deeply loved.
Loved beyond measure.
Until next time,
Isabelle
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