@The No Sunshine

Radical Positivity

Radical positivity, by definition, is the practice of consciously focusing on uplifting perspectives and recognizing intrinsic goodness without denying difficult realities. Opposite of toxic positivity.

Key approaches are Radical Acceptance, Active Reframing, and Relentless Encouragement.

As a Sagittarius, I believe I have spent most of my life unconsciously embodying these principles. I have always felt like the glass-half-full kind of person. Perhaps it was because growing up in Baltimore, you’re used to seeing people with less than enough trying to survive, so you have no choice but to look up.

Recently, I spoke to two of my poetry siblings from Baltimore, as I now live in California, and I told them about my struggles on the West Coast. I felt like I was constantly in rooms with people whose lives don’t depend on the work they put forth. They reminded me that it’s a Baltimore thing: we are artists; we know that every opportunity is rare and will either make us or break us, and so we have no choice but to give it 110% every time. Suddenly, that black hole of loneliness got smaller because I realized people who operate like me do exist. They’re already my people, they’re just back home. They also reminded me that I’m defying the odds by finding a way “out”. Funny, because my goal has always been to return home with everything I know and help the progression of my people. Radical acceptance, by definition, means acknowledging and accepting life’s painful realities without resistance, allowing you to stop internal suffering and redirect your energy toward constructive actions. No matter how tough the road ahead seemed, I continued walking forward.

Grad school: Active Reframing and Relentless Encouragement.

I am now in the third year of my MFA Acting program at the California Institute of the Arts. Interestingly enough, I feel so far removed from my first orientation day, but I can still see it as clear as day. The unknown I wore on my face, the moment I met the first person in my cohort, and the lunch we had at Chili’s to celebrate the weekend. If I could go back, I’d advise myself to be exactly who I am. Courageous, hard-working, quiet (at times), loving, and generous.

Some days were much harder than others. I experienced moments when I couldn’t help but cry on the floors of E106 or F100. I would panic internally about the thoughts I believed rushed through my professor and cohort’s minds. I would say to myself, I just want to be normal. To hide like everyone else. But I’m not like everyone else, and no one is. Were all different, and instead of hating my differences, I had to force myself to love them. I relish the fact that, although I was crying, I dried my tears long enough to complete the presentations. I never let what I was feeling get in the way of my purpose, my goal, the dream.

Year Two, The Half-God of Rainfall, and What’s Next?

I’ll get back to you on that. Seriously, I’m unsure what it cost me. Now that the show is done, I question what of Modupe I still carry? Her strength, perhaps? But if I carry her strength, I must carry her pain as well. The words “Play with love, play with pain” are etched into my skin forever. As actors, we welcome the essence of others, allowing their spirit to merge with ours. Otherwise, the audience wouldn’t believe a single word we say. Living authentically with the spirit of Modupe meant facing my past. Experiences I haven’t quite worked through or healed from, rather. It meant that for exactly 90% of the show, I was to portray around thirty-something years of pain in two hours. But that’s not why I wanted to write this piece. Truth is, as successful as the show was, I still feel disappointed in myself. It isn’t that I forgot my lines or had more bad shows than great. In fact, neither of those two things could be said about any show in our run. It’s just…when it came to all the outside factors, I wish I had been more equanimous.

More to come…

Revolutionary Artist Called To Action

Masked beneath urban life, struggle, and an AUDACIOUS spectrum of color, Boots Riley attempts to congregate the PEOPLE for change.

Coming soon…