Around the holidays people tend to forget that there are many who don’t have the option to celebrate. There are so many people who are less fortunate in this world and I often believe that it is our obligation to look out for them when we can. So, this holiday season, try to give back to at least one person. It may be $5 to a homeless person on the street or it may be volunteering at your local shelter, but whatever it is MAKE IT COUNT! I don’t just talk about, I am about it as well. I will be sponsoring 2 children this year for the Holiday Gift Drive at the James G. Blaine Academic Plus school in Philadelphia. Each child in my friend’s class gets to pick 3 items that they want for Christmas and, those who are gracious enough to give, will buy the items for the child so that they can have a special Christmas! I don’t live locally so I will be making my contribution financially for this event. If you are interested and/or need something to give towards this holiday please let me know and I can pass you the information. If you think it’s just us normal folks who give back, check out a few of the top celebrity philanthropists; this should get you in the spirit!
Oprah has donated more than $41 million through the Oprah Winfrey Foundation which helps women and children gain access to education programs.
Meryl Streep has contributed over $2 million to the Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts, which she and her husband established.
Mel Gibson, as crazy as some may think he is, has given over $6.85 million to the A.P. Reilly foundation to support the Holy Family Church!
Well helloooooooooo, world! No, I haven’t totally gotten rid of my Become a Blogger Mondays series, but you all know that I won’t write if I’m not feeling it. With that said, we can all assume that there must be SOMEthing that I’m feeling! I’ve sat back and watched and observed and pondered and…OK you get the point! I’ve just been taking note of all the brains going a million miles a minute. I’ve paid attention to those around me who are pursuing their dreams and it’s so great to see the creative wheels turning…it’s a source of inspiration for everyone when this happens.
However, I think for some it’s just a fad. Like, do you get the impression that everyone has a blog? Or a clothing line? Or they make jewelry? Or they rap? Or they sing? That kind of annoys me. It makes me wonder, are you doing this for you? Or are you doing this just because you want to be like everybody else? Or because you THINK this is how you can get rich? If it’s coming from the heart and it’s something that you genuinely love to do or you take seriously, I 100% support it, but if I get the feeling that you’re just doing it “just because” then I may give you that “look”. Follow your dreams and passions, but make them your own…add your own spin to it…be original and even when it gets hard, KEEP going…that’s how I can tell if you’re really about business or just herding with the masses.
Let others inspire you, but don’t become them! BE YOU!
We all want to be successful. To some, that means earning money, having nice things to show for their hard work, flashing labels and expensive jewelry. To others, it means something a bit more priceless…they want the feeling of being fulfilled. My quest isn’t just about having a successful site or doing celebrity interviews or bringing you new music. It’s really about inspiring others to live out their life’s purpose. It’s a waste of life if you aren’t actively trying to find what you were put on this earth for. I always had this weird thought that if I ever found what I was meant to be on earth for, God would take me back with Him (i.e. I would die lol!). So, I never rushed the process on trying to figure it out because I wanted to live longer (weird, right?). Then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me! There is a REASON why I am here and it’s my job to live each day like it’s my last.
The last couple of months have been filled with a lot of death of young people. The majority of those that passed were friends of friends or a friend’s family member, but I still took a lesson out of it all. I don’t think that people just die out of nowhere. I believe that their death is supposed to be a lesson and it’s a lesson that I think people, far too often, miss. Life is short. When I’m long gone, I want to have left a mark so that everyone that I came in contact with has some sort of memory. That pushes me to be a better person. Everyday I am thinking about how I can become a better person, a better friend, a better daughter, a better sister. Everyday, I tell people how I feel. Whether it’s a moment of brutal honesty or a moment of laughter…it’s genuine.
The moral of the story is…I’m no longer afraid to find my purpose in life because I think a part of my purpose is to be better. To be the change that I want to see in the world around me…and that kind of mark will last a lifetime!
This is an amazing story of passion, struggle, fortitude and above all, endurance! No one ever said that following your dreams would be easy and Toni Braxton’s story is a perfect example of working hard for everything that you have. (Thanks for sharing, The Jasmine Brand) Check out the full version of Vh1’s Behind the Music: Toni Braxton.
Some may laugh at Drake for obtaining his high school diploma at the age of 26, but I commend him for reaching his goal. His uncle taught him the importance of following through and it is what motivated him to go back and do something that most wouldn’t have the courage to do. His speech is an example of why I built my site; to motivate others to follow their dreams and to EXPERIENCE their journey to the fullest. Drake explains,
I had left a gaping whole in my story of following through…we figured out how I could close my chapter of following through. Sometimes it’s about going there, not getting there. Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. And sometimes when you get there, you’ll look back and you’ll realize that you wish you could go there again because all of the experiences that you went through are the reason that you are who you are today.
If you are a fan of NBC’s The Voice, then the name Jonathas will certainly ring some bells. He was the soulful powerhouse from Season 2 who was cut in the final battle round, just before the ultimate live competition. Jonathas was a fan favorite, bringing something new to the competition…a Brazilian who could sing Usher’s U Got it Bad better than Usher himself (yes, I said it!). For those that aren’t as familiar, Jonathas migrated to the United States on a boat for over a month with his mother at the age of four. Growing up poor, music is what he turned to at a young age and it has become the one thing that could help provide for his family. Now living in Texas at the age of 24, he has a wife and two kids and drops his debut album, Numb, which is slated to be something that the R&B game needs. Check out my interview with Jonathas and see what he has to say about his upcoming album, his migration to the U.S. and choosing team Christina on The Voice.
Tell me about your journey from Brazil to the U.S.
I came to the States when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I was on a cruise ship with me and my older brother and my mom was pregnant with my younger brother. We came to the States super young and Austin was one of the first stops we made. Singing was always a part of my life…I tried to enter as many things as I could; we grew up really poor so money was always a situation and we tried to scramble around and get into as many free things and contests as we could.
At what point did you know that singing was a passion and something that you were going to follow for the long haul?
I gotta say when I was probably in Middle School, there was a big show that I did and I lead the choir and had these big solos and I knew from there exactly what I wanted to do. I had to grow up and learn everything on my own [including] all the studio stuff, so I just started taking it to the next level. Middle School was really it…not only was I like, “I can do this” but I love to do it and I love to hear the fans yell. It was what I wanted ever since I was young.
Even though this is your passion, it’s obviously a way for you to provide for your family. Given the struggle that you’ve had early on in life, does that add any extra pressure to succeed?
Yes, absolutely! I make a little money here and there, but I also work part-time. I’m 24 hours, fully committed to this music thing because that’s what I do and that’s what I love to do and it’s what I’m gonna do until I’m where I want to be, but even now it’s tough. You go onto a show like The Voice and you get cut where you did and you get back home and people had all these expectations, family as well. It was tough. Having to pick it up from there, it was tough. I had to search deep and find myself and that’s where Numb came from.
What can fans expect from your upcoming album, Numb?
Numb is real, it’s something that I had to step out of where I was and I had to find myself and I had to do my own soul searching. It was the first time I was dealing with another writer that was writing something for me and that was big because I’m real picky when it comes to my music and I like things a certain style. I really opened up for this project. I had a writer for my first single, Written in Stone, who was Karen Rodriguez. It’s me thinking, it’s me searching and I’m still finding my voice.
You have an amazing voice! Where do you get your main inspiration from?
That’s a good question! I never grew up with any vocal coaching, but I did grow up with my heros like Usher. When Ne-Yo first broke out as an artist, that’s when it struck me. Ne-Yo was one of my biggest inspirations and not just as an artist, but as a songwriter and having to work behind the scenes and see everybody else get the fame and high accolades. Then he comes out and BOOM, he’s the man! I really kept that in mind and stayed focus. I really follow up on the artists that I have a lot of respect for and it keeps me in line with my music. Nowadays, a lot of things are going Pop and it’s rare that you hear R&B on the radio. What I don’t want to do is reject what I have now and where my voice is best at and go do the Pop; I want to stick with what I love and what I do best and that’s R&B.
Did you get a chance to work with Ne-Yo?
I didn’t and it kinda sucks because I ended up going with team Christina and Ne-Yo was a mentor on Cee-Lo’s team. But, everything happens for a reason and hopefully things come up after this project is released.
You chose team Christina, was that something that you did on your own and if so, what was the ultimate deciding factor?
I did choose her on my own, but I didn’t have intentions of choosing her…I don’t even think they give you more than a minute to decide. I went into the competition saying I wanted to go with team Cee-Lo. He’s another artist that I have a lot of respect for. I felt like Christina wanted to fight for me more and when she was looking at me and talking to me I just really felt like she wanted to connect with me as a artist and elevate what I had to the next level.
Were you happy with your decision at the end of it?
That’s a tough question to ask. I can say yes and I’m really thankful for everything she’s done for me, but at the same time did I make the right decision? That’s a question I ask myself all of the time. Everything does happen for a reason and maybe it just wasn’t meant to be quite yet and maybe there’s something bigger for me out there.
What advice can you offer up-and-coming artists who are hustling just like you in this industry?
The best thing that I can say is, if you have a dream, never throw it away just because someone tells you that you can’t do it or someone tries to bring your down. You can do anything that you put your mind to, you just have to go out there and do it and take chances. You have to leave it all on the line and try your best every single time. Your work ethic is one of the most important things. This music business, it sucks to say, but it’s grimy. You have to hustle to get into where you need to…when you’re hustling, you have to have a work ethic and you have to put in work.
How can fans support you?
You can go anywhere from iTunes to Amazon or my website, IknowJonathas.com.
Any last words for your fans?
I hope everyone is on board; I’ve been working really hard on this project. I’m here for them and I hope they’re here for me!
Thank you for visiting the Dreamworld and I hope that Jonathas’ story has inspired everyone to keep pushing! Check out this video of Jonathas singing Usher’s U Got it Bad onNBC’s The Voice and be sure to buy his new album, Numb!
Normally Monday is blocked out for showing others how to become a blogger, but instead, I am going to do something that some bloggers stray away from…making it personal. The past month has been craaaaazy! I’ve seen death, I’ve seen sadness, I’ve seen friendships change, I’ve seen betrayal, I’ve seen families being torn apart, I’ve seen struggle, I’ve seen pain. There were small sprinkles of fun and laughter, but mostly just a whirlwind of THINGS! Some of them were my things and some were not my things. A part of my journey to fulfilling my life’s purpose isn’t just filled with fun and exciting blog posts; there are major lessons and tests that I experience along the way. When I put everything together, it becomes the sum of a greater whole…each piece of the puzzle playing its own role. I firmly believe that everything that occurs in this lifetime is a lesson to be learned. Regardless of the trials that I go through, one consistent lesson that I always come away with is that life is so darn precious. It is so important to recognize/right your wrongs, to appreciate your blessings and to forgive others even when they don’t forgive you. I’m not afraid of people seeing my bad days because I am who I am. I’m in constant growth and change and perfection has never been claimed. I have done plenty of things that I am not proud of, but one thing is for sure…I can always humble myself enough to recognize/rightmy wrongs, appreciate my blessings and to ALWAYS forgive (even myself). Maybe this will be just another post that you read today, but I’m hoping that it will help someone along their journey and to be a reminder that you may be in the midst of your storm, but there will always be sunny days again.
I’d just like to start by saying that I’m not sorry for what you are about to read. This is my blog, this is my mind and it’s every bit of my prerogative to share what I want with the world. Call it a last straw, call it the straw that broke the camel’s back, call it what you want, but that moment of clarity has arrived. When you get to the point when all you want is total and complete happiness, you are willing to do any and everything to get it, including being selfish! YUP, selfish! It’s all about me, me and me…me.
I’m at the point where I just don’t give a hoot about certain things such as:
-People who walk out of my life
-Judgmental people
-Misplaced blame
-Ungratefulness
-Being taken for granted
-DISrespect
-Immaturity
-Stupidity
I learned a very valuable lesson this past week and that is to not allow myself to be treated anything less than what I am worth, by anyone…family included. If you choose to not support me, that’s fine…different strokes for different folks, but please step aside and let’s do away with the fake smiles. If you can’t be genuinely happy for me, pack your bags, your belongings, your space, your breath and exit the building. Sometimes people put up with more than they should and they keep negativity around and they fight for something that hmmm…wouldn’t fight for them. I’m taking back control of my life, my circle, my bubble! I’m so focused, I can taste the success. I will not allow myself to be derailed. My dreams are being protected!
When you know where he’s come from…you’d never think it would be easy for him to succeed in this world. Born and raised in the Bronx, NY, Jonathan is 1 of 6 siblings and is beginning to find his way. At a young age, he and his brothers and sisters lost their father (my Uncle) in what is still an unsolved murder. Some odd years later, they would lose their mother. Being raised by my grandparents, he has managed to graduate high school and get a full scholarship to Franklin & Marshall, where he won the prestigious award for the best documentary in his class. It amazes me that he possesses so much resilience, determination and passion after everything that he has endured. He probably doesn’t even know it, but he is one of my light sources. To know that my baby cousin (not so baby anymore) is so strong…there’s never an excuse for me to not push hard as well.
Now, onto the exciting news! Jonathan has managed to WOW the big-wigs and he was the winner of MTV’s Intern Army Mission. In short, a selected few who made the cut, were able to compete for the number one spot and win a fully paid trip to the VMA’s in LA! Each intern had to make gorilla style videos promoting the VMA’s and were judged on overall creativity (I’ve posted one of his mission videos below). YES! My baby cousin (I gotta stop saying that) came out on top!!! I know for a fact that many people, young and old, can learn so much from this brilliant soul, so I wanted to pick Jonathan’s brain so that others could get an idea of how he got to where he is now!
Photo by Will Sampson
Briefly explain what you actually do for MTV.
So I interned with TV Land. I did a lot of editing and trimming of a variety of sitcoms such as Everybody Loves Raymond, The Nanny, and many other sitcoms in order to create promos. I resized and placed logos on these promos and sent them to be approved and aired. I pulled and recorded footage onto tapes. I also transferred footage from these tapes onto computers which I cut and put onto TV Land’s server for future use. I also attended audio/video sessions and performed production runs to deliver materials. I even shadowed current staff Production Assistants and performed any production related duties needed for shoots, edit/audio sessions,or delivery.
What was the challenge that you had to succeed in, in order to win the internship?
Well besides overcoming the stress of the short deadline we were given for each mission, I had to really impose myself into large crowds, and really persuade new yorkers ( and you know how they can be) to listen to me for a second, and hear what I had to say. Although a struggle, I just brought forth my charisma and that took the crowds.
What did the prize include?
The prizes were: The Grand Prize winner (1st place) won a free paid trip to the Video Music Awards out in LA. That included a free flight, hotel, and tickets to the VMA’s, along with one friend. The contest included 5 missions and we were judged overall on consistent creativity. Each round had a first place winner, and then all five were judged. MTV hires about 500 interns throughout all their networks, and all of these were a possible candidate for this contest.
What does this mean for your future affiliation with MTV? Does it guarantee an internship?
This win only proved to Viacom that I am a strong and hardworking individual. At the end of my internship, I was ecstatic to find out that I had a job offer after graduation. I am still keeping my options open, but this was an amazing offer.
How did you get such an awesome opportunity to work at MTV?
I got the job at TV Land through my scholarship program known as the Posse foundation. A program that was recognized by president Obama, they recruit young/diverse leaders throughout several major cities, and put them in top liberal art schools. This program has a huge and very powerful network of companies and jobs, whom all love working with Posse students.
What are your long-term goals?
My long-term goals, besides get a job, is to be successful in anything I choose to do. Always be a thinker and find new ways to innovate. I want to direct films, and hopefully make movies. Even direct and write my own TV Series is another option. Whichever happens, I know for sure I want to show my experiences through the scope of film and help others tell their story when their voice is unheard.
How do you think you managed to find so much success, despite your tragedies/hardships in life?
I think I find my successes in just staying focused on the prize. What I went through was tough, and those tough things start to wear you down, but when there’s motivation for something bigger and better, then you refuse to be pulled down. Life doesn’t have to be sad or angry. I try to always focus on the best side of things which I guess makes me optimistic. And also realizing that patience is important keeps me focused. It’s easy to just give up because it doesn’t work out immediately. Success for me is a plant and pay off system. You “plant” your opportunity and it needs hard work and time to flower.
It’s an amazing feeling to be able to share when things are going great for my family! I am SO proud and honored to watch him succeed in life and be the happiest that he can be!
Danithedreamgirl 