#MyFavoritePlace to visit… in #BoostYourBlog Challenge

Photo from LA Parks

My favorite place to visit is Lake Balboa at Anthony C. Beilenson Park in Van Nuys, CA.  I had no idea about this lake until one of my friends suggested that we take a walk there. She would run around Lake Balboa for a good workout. Many times I take runs around the park too. There are many ducks of all different shapes and sizes. They stay busy in the park and you may even catch a mother with her young crossing some of the little pathways. There is a playground for little children, fishing locations, grilling spots and other recreational activities you can do. During the warmer days, you will find families and friends getting together for birthday parties, reunions, weddings, and to celebrate the holidays. The workers do such a great job of keeping the park in tip-top shape for it's visitors.

I find myself thinking of visiting this place when I need to do some thinking or want to memorize a script I'm working on. I like the trees, the water and there are many different nationalities of all ages who visit. If I go often in a particular week I begin to see the regulars who come. I remember once, I was preparing for a stage audition and went to the library to get the actual play to read. I thought to myself, "Where would be the best place for me to read and not be distracted?". Well, Lake Balboa came to mind and I found myself sitting on one of the benches, reading that stage-play until I finished. I was so excited! I did notice a number of people sneaking a peak at what I was reading. I guess they were also wondering what a young lady was doing on a Saturday afternoon, in a park, reading a book! There is a lot of other exciting things one can do on a Saturday afternoon...lol. I even had a few curious dogs stop by to take a sniff.

I do believe that we all should have a favorite place where we feel safe for relaxation, meditation, or a simple recharge after a rough day. It really does make all the difference. After taking a walk around Lake Balboa, people-watching, and seeing the ducks, I feel a lot better about anything that could be screwing with my mind. Sometimes you even find that there are some people worse off than you so why let things get so close to you. If you don't already have a favorite place to visit, I recommend putting that on your wish list to find. Some like to travel to distant islands but I like to keep my favorite place close to home where I can reach it just about anytime I need a serious breather.


This entry is just one of the daily posts on this journey through the Boost Your Blog Challenge. All  posts are 100% my own content. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in this month's challenge. Click the link on the banner below for more details.

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Ten years from now… in #BoostYourBlog Challenge

Ten years from now it will be 2023. What a year this will be! If I am still alive, well, and kicking, I can only imagine how I would like my life to be. I have learned a couple of years ago that my plans are just that, plans. I set my goals and they are broken due to unexpected events and occurrences that not only involve my own personal choices but those who I come in contact with on a daily basis. I believe that ten years from now will hold many more challenges, discoveries, inventions, advancements in technology and maybe we will get even closer to that first pedestrians flight to the moon.

However, if there were a few things I would hope to see ten years from now, they would be:

• Bipartisanship among our politicians in Washington to revolutionize the United States of America, creating a new awareness with regards to power and money.

• To officially find a cure for the most common forms of cancer and also AIDS, which takes the lives of so many each year

• To officially establish a position on the cast of a major television show drama, where I can flourish as an actress with other veteran actors and actresses

• To write, direct, and produce a short film or feature film that is officially invited to screen at the Sundance Film Festival

• To establish two scholarships, one for boys and one for girls, to assist with their desire to study in the performing arts since I do understand how stressful students loans can be on an artist.

Ten years from now I hope we evolve into a more loving, positive, and influential part of this ever-wondrous Earth.

Sun Rise - Photo by gilderm

This entry is just one of the daily posts on this journey through the Boost Your Blog Challenge. All  posts are 100% my own content. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in this month's challenge. Click the link on the banner below for more details.

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My worst #Nightmare… in #BoostYourBlog Challenge

My worst nightmare involved a dark spirit, pulls on my ankles and snakes with one king cobra when I was 9 or 10 years old. I don't know how we get into the nightmares and dreams we experience. It's always a mystery to me. Above all of them, this one is most memorable in my mind for this challenge.
   

Dreaming - Photo by Livke

It was quiet in the house, on that street, in Washington, DC. Everyone was sleeping, including myself, but I was going to have to fight to escape mine. 

"I found myself in a tunnel with grey walls. It was foggy and I really couldn't see anything as I walked. I began to get scared and started to run when I heard sounds and then fell on something. I was sleeping still but could feel the pressure of a dark spirit of some sort, pulling on my ankles. It was trying to drag me. I was screaming and reaching out for someone to save me. I then looked up as I reached out to see snakes around me but there was one king cobra that stood, staring directly at me. I screamed even more and continued to reach out for help. Just when the king cobra had stood in position to attack, I was pulled awake by my father who had heard me screaming. I could feel myself waking up and I looked at my pillow and saw the snakes running away off my pillow and out of sight." 

After I was settled back down, it really took me some time to go back to sleep and not think of all those snakes that was on my pillow. That was a night to remember for me, even now when my mind wanders or I see snakes at the zoo, in someone's possession or being talked about. However, I'm not scared of them. It didn't terrify me that much, but all the elements of the dream makes me think what did it all mean. What a nightmare, right? 

As a child and growing up as a teenager, I was no stranger to nightmares. I believe spirits sometimes prey on children because they are the gifts of God and want to see good in everything. I guess I was always their favorite to visit and scare in my dreams. Now, as an adult, if I have a nightmare, I call out to God and he makes it all better. I'm happy to report that I have very little nightmares these days but simple dreams. I guess we all do have guardian angels that protect us and guide us when we leave our parents to find our own way. I'm very grateful for that.

Guardian Angel - Photo by raichinger

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The #Song that describes #MyLife… in #BoostYourBlog Challenge

The song that describes my life is "Independent Women Part I" by Destiny's Child. Now I know, if there are any gentleman taking the time to read my daily post in this challenge, know that I am not leaving you out of the equation but beside every strong man is a strong woman.

Since we're speaking about the journey my life has taken, this song really speaks to how I was raised and how that was ultimately the only way I could think. See, I was the oldest of three children and had to be the second mother and caregiver to my grandmother with dementia. There was no time to go running into a closet and cry. I had to figure things out and learn as I went along. Personally, I do believe that's why I'm so hungry to learn everything I possibly can. Education was the only outlet for me besides drawing comic book characters.

Being the oldest comes with it's demands and I was always the first to get disciplined for everything. I do believe that this discipline is what prepared me even more for the mental rigors of basic training in the U.S Army. I used to be really serious all the time. I never really smiled and was always focused on being the first child in my family to get a college degree. I wanted to achieve this dream so bad that I was okay with serving my country in the process. I did complete my Bachelor's degree in 2006. I believe the leadership that I had to have as a child continues to help me focus and achieve what I set out to do. I guess that would seem to some that I am an independent woman with an idealistic mindset. However, I do know that reality has it's scrapes and burns and nothing comes easy just by thinking it.

Being an independent woman has allowed for me to travel to other countries, work for companies that I can't even talk about "what I did". I have experienced disappointment and successes that all came with some form of risk because I believed in myself at the end of the day. I do believe that if I don't have a foot in what I would like to achieve it will not get done. This is from my own personal experience which makes me this type of woman. I can say that being an independent woman goes hand in hand with my mindset. I couldn't be anything else. It is a part of who I am. I believe sometimes it may come off as a little cocky or arrogant but I am in no way this type of lady if you were to meet me. However, I do expect a lot from the people I work with. I have definitely become a lot more keen to civilian life since my military days. I've grown into a woman. I am an independent woman who sometimes don't have all the answers and shed tears of sadness, disappointment and joy. I rack my brain and wonder what's my next move like everyone else but I know that as long as He give me strength and the ability to learn then I have the keys to change, self-improvement, and self-discovery. And, at times, even that feels like it's not enough but I regroup and look back at how far I've come and reset my focus on what I'm working towards. This is how I see it as I journey through the unknown valleys of my acting career.

Being an independent woman is me. It is the mark I wear which helps me to appreciate the hard work  sweat and tears that go into whatever I have achieved and look to achieve in the future. God has a way of whipping us all into shape and creating the man or woman that we must be to fulfill our purpose in this life before we take our final breath. It may not always be pretty but I am the independent woman I am because of those good and bad events in my life.








This entry is just one of the daily posts I will be doing as I journey through the Boost Your Blog Challenge. All  posts are 100% my own content. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in this month's challenge. Click the link on the banner below for more details.

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My favorite time of day is... in #BoostYourBlog Challenge

My favorite time of day is early in the morning between 4:00am-7:00am/PST. I find that I am most alert and in a mindset to think creatively. I feel open and rejuvenated from sleeping and really want to get something accomplished before most of the rest of the world wakes up. Sometimes I find myself getting up earlier than 4:00am when I have pressing decisions to make and really need the time to concentrate on things. It's really fascinating how quiet a room can sound when it's just you in it, with your thoughts. 

I read somewhere that if you wanted to memorize something or take in new knowledge it is best done around 7:00am. Have you heard of this? I have tested the theory a number of times when I was in the acting conservatory and had to memorize a monologue or recite a Shakespearean sonnet. I did find that I was able to relax my body muscles and mind, in the same to accept the new material. Then once midday arrived, I was able to revisit that early morning moment to perform the material in class or on stage. 

Photo by MariuszD17

In the early morning I feel like I'm lost in a darkened forest and the only way out is by following the thoughts mapped out in my mind. To be in the silence of the morning, where you are alone to make decisions for your day or to be the painter of your own image, is most powerful. There are no envious sounds but only the wandering thoughts that encompass my mind. It's a huge playground of rights and wrongs, hills and valleys, but once the time strikes 7:00am, I am forced to face the world and be. Some people meditate. Some people pray or read their biblical literature. I sit quietly, staring into my room, thinking to myself, "What does He have for me to do today?" In the end of it all, I hope it's getting me closer to fulfilling my purpose.






This entry is just one of the daily posts I will be doing as I journey through the Boost Your Blog Challenge. All  posts are 100% my own content. If you are a blogger and would like to participate in this month's challenge. Click the link on the banner below for more details.

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#HappyNewYear from Selena Thinking Out Loud With Purpose! #2013

Happy New Year 2013 from actress Selena B. of Selena Thinking Out Loud With Purpose. 

Today is January 1, 2013 and the first new day of a new cycle for us all. May we now begin again and put the past in the past to look forward to a new and bright future. God bless You!

Here's a Recap of the Ball Drop in New York 2013: