Walking towards your destiny and Torn: The Willie Lynch Letter

Sequoia Houston

I adore film (and I’m looking forward to doing television!) however there is nothing like being on stage. I’m currently in a play called Torn: The Willie Lynch Letter. It’s a fantastic show by writer Jermaine Harris, that juxtaposes the ramifications of Willie Lynch’s letter in 1712, when it was written, against the post traumatic slavery disorder faced in the African American community 300 years later, in 2012.

We opened today, for a high school nonetheless. I must say that Jordan High School in Long Beach has one of the best auditoriums I’ve ever performed in. I was amazed at the professional grade and quality….it was even better than what we had at Arts Magnet, when I was there. While performing at high schools wasn’t necessarily on my bucket list, I LOVE the fact that I’m able to give back to the community by sharing such a dynamic story and history with the students. In fact, Wednesday, the writer, a few of my cast mates and I went to different classes and spoke with the students about varying issues.

What I told them, and what I’ll share here, is that I find that life is entirely too short not to be doing what you love. If you think about it, you spend at least half of your 24 hour day preparing for, commuting to and participating in work. That’s entirely too much time to dedicate to something you don’t absolutely love. While dreams often take time and persistence to become reality, I wholeheartedly believe that the three essential steps to getting there are:

1.) Figure out what you want to do. This takes time, but boy is it worth it. A lot of times people ask what you want to be, and that’s fine and all, but I think figuring out what you want to do is far more important. For example, I’ve always wanted to be an actress. I’ve worked on various projects, so I can now call myself an actress……but, more than that, I want to act…..everyday (or something close to that)….so that’s where my focus should be; not on what I want to be, but what I want to do….I hope that makes sense…..

2.) Figure out what you need to do to do what you want to do. Now more than ever, the amount of resources we have are astounding. There’s no excuse for not taking the time to research the necessary steps to do what you want to do. Find people who currently do it and reach out to them; search the internet. The only limits you have are those of your own imagination.

3.) Do it. As cliche as we tend to think of it now, Nike really had something with their slogan “Just Do it.” It’s not enough knowing what to do. Take action. Do it. Take that first step…..and know that it will not be easy. Will Smith tells a great story about how his father tore down the brick wall in front of his store and made he and his brother rebuild the wall……the thing is, if you look at all the bricks and think, “man, this is impossible,” it will be. But if you take each brick and place it in it’s respective place, one by one, building on the other, sooner or later, you will have your wall. It’s no different with reaching your destiny. Take it one brick at a time.

Be fearless! Walk into your destiny and LOVE YOUR LIFE!!!!

Stay blessed,

Sequoia

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