Here’s a playlist of songs I’m resonating with right now.

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Destiny Jaimes Carachure, the director of the short film I was in last year, shared the rough cut with me. You can watch it on YouTube.

I’m thankful for this opportunity to explore my hidden side. This was my first time acting, as you can probably tell by my acting (oh well!). I recently wrote about the significance of my involvement in this project. It turned out to be such a fun and healing experience for my ever-so-curious inner child. She needed to come out. It’s funny how an unexpected event can impact my life so tremendously. I love it when dots connect. I’m so grateful to be alive and re-learning about myself through these random creative happenings.

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I am an empath and an eternal optimist. I am a lover and a hopeful romantic. I’m a third-culture kid. I speak multiple languages and resonate with various cultures. I am the oldest sibling and a black sheep of the family. I am here to break the generational cycle. I practice holistic wellness and approach food as medicine. I used to be married to a wonderful man from a very different upbringing and cultural background. I am a creative professional with 15 years of experience in branding and design. I co-founded a startup and built the brand from scratch. I am an artist at heart, and in life. I am a yogi. I am an old soul. I am everything my ancestors wished me to be.

I love the sun. I love the color orange. I love the trees. I love the red rocks. I love the American Southwest. I love baths, saunas, and steam rooms. I love the hot springs that I grew up with. I love the smell of tropical humidity. I love being at an airport. I love asking a server to surprise me with a dish of their choice. I love surprises. I love pineapples and watermelon. I love pho. I love cats. I’ve never been to Egypt but I feel nostalgic about it. I love slow train travel. I love going on a walk with no plan. I love driving for hours by myself. I love good conversations with my close friends. I love making love. I love to cook for myself and others. I love writing as I get lost in time, and I have so much to share. I love me.

— From the recently updated About Me page.

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I want to share with you what I’ve been up to. As the lunar new year approaches, I am looking back at 2024. It was a year of discoveries.

I modeled for a national insurance company. They hired me to model for their media library of stock photos. I came, posed, and made a month-worth of money in 30 minutes. At the set, I shook hands with a man, who I only later learned was a Hall of Fame baseball player from the New York Yankees. He was the brand ambassador. It was interesting to be on the other side of business. As an Art Director, I used to create marketing campaigns by accessing clients’ media libraries.

I was cast for the lead role in a short film. After the shoot, I told the young film director that I had never acted in my life. She was shocked and told me I was natural. I, too, was surprised at how relaxed I was. I enjoyed being the center of attention and was able to make everyone around me comfortable. I overheard someone saying “Acting is responding,” which still lingers in my head.

I volunteered as an energy healer at my yoga studio. There’s a class where healers with various expertise go around and offer healing during a yin yoga class. The opportunity to work as a healer came to me just when I was starting to feel like myself. Over the past year, I worked on so many people, from all kinds of backgrounds. My method of healing involves hands-on touch. The more I practiced, the more in tune I was able to connect. It feels like a silent energetic conversation.

I worked as a sales consultant at a fine art gallery. This opportunity felt fated. Last summer, I went into the gallery as a visitor and had an amazing conversation with an unassuming man who I later found out was the owner and curator. He then offered me the job. On the first day of that job, I worked 9 hours straight. There was an event nearby, and we had more visitors than usual. Well-spoken elders. Quiet collectors in Patagonia jackets. Passionate art lovers with pungent coffee breath. Newly-wed couples looking for the perfect painting for their bedroom. Influencer-type women in fits that slayed. I conversed with all of these people. And I was very good at it.

So why am I sharing this? Because all these experiences led me to realize my gift of connection through listening and talking. Most importantly, being my authentic self brought me all of these opportunities.

Authenticity is powerful. Only you can be you.

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“You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important. Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important.” — James Baldwin

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I had an unexpected revelation while browsing the book section at a local Goodwill. Here’s a page from Ways of Seeing by John Berger.

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I’ve been responding to the universe’s guidance and trying things that it presents to me. Apparently, acting is one of them.

This turned out to be such a healing and empowering opportunity. I am so delighted that the director Destiny found me and trusted me with the role.

What a privilege to be part of the collective energies of fellow artists and dreamers. I loved every moment.

I’m ready, universe. I want more new experiences. Bring them to me!

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Short film Speech Therapist by Destiny Jaimes Carachure

Produced by Leaphea Sambath

Co-cast: Jenna Aranda

BTS photos by Diego Salvacion

Thank you to the entire team at CSULB

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