Today is Christmas Eve. Meaning 2015 is 'bout to be over, which means it's a great time to sum up what happened this year. 2015 is a year filled with emotions. Early on, I found out something that I spent two months crying about it. I cried about it on my way to work, at work, after work, on my way home, at home... you get the point. Then, about a third way through, I thought I fell in love for the first time. I cried about it on my way to work, at work, after work, on my way home, at home... you get the point. The thing is, I cried a lot; and maybe that's how I got the eye infection. But all that crying taught me, it's okay to cry about things. It's okay to let it all out. And in the end, everything is going to be okay. Two important things I learned: people are the way they are; accept them as they are. Never never never never never never put your mind/body/soul on the line for anyone who doesn't give two shits about you. Life is too short to waste your energy on people who ain't even matter. Go through the 'mo gracefully, walk out gracefully--cuz in the end, you doing what's right for yourself is what matters. All in all, I found an emotional strength within myself that I thought I never had. It look a while for me to realize how much I can handle; but alas, you live and you learn.
2015 is a year of balance. I worked a full-time job at AALDEF (Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund) to support my dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist. I finished up the contract towards the end of May, and then woke up the next day ready to work with AAIFF (Asian American International Film Festival). I picked things up quite easily again since I've done it before; it's just the time deadlines this time around that made it challenging. Well guess what!? I love me a challenge. I worked with such a great team to make AAIFF what it is--and then it was over. I still think about how much we had to do to make the film festival what it is, and how much fun we have when guests and audience members come to town. Both AALDEF and AAIFF is all about community and social justice--representation in legal/media fronts, so it motivates me to keep doing work. It's tiring; it's tiring; but sometimes, it's all worth it.
2015 is a year I started to write again. I topped the year off by binge writing the solo show (a solo show is a theatre piece performed by one person) for two weeks straight. Then I submitted the rough draft to the New York International Fringe Festival (it's a theatre festival that happens in NYC every summer). Then I got rejected towards the end of April. No biggie ya know, cuz this industry, and in life, you get no's 99% of the time. I got hurt and thought about giving up; gave up looking at the solo show piece for the entire summer; BUT, I realized how much I believed in the story, picked up my laptop, edited, wrote more, took out some, edited more, and BAM, I finished writing a third draft in October right before I left for Asia. I printed out and took the piece to Hong Kong and Japan with me, hoping I'll memorize it. Well, I memorized freshmen/bits of sophomore year at the very least. I'm still memorizing it. I have eight more pages to go. I got this.
2015 is a year for an upgrade. I took two acting classes at the Barrow Group Theatre to continue to work on the craft, and then got casted in a 15 minute play. I also got my headshots retaken by the talented talented David Noles and beautiful/masterful makeup artist Anna. I printed them and printed out new business cards too. I invested a portion of my earnings on these marketing materials, and I love it! You sometimes have to invest in you to grow your business. So spend money, and do it right. Upgrade yourself.
2015 is a year for travels. I went to Philly twice for work--once in January to meet with elderly Chinese voters who didn't get to vote, and then in the summer for a photoshoot with Nom Wah Tea Parlour. I think it's a quaint city I did not have the time to personally explore. I'll be back! In November, I spent the entire month in Asia. 15 days in Hong Kong, 3 days in Macau, then 10 days in Japan. I spent time with family and some friends in HK, explored Macau without going into the casinos, and then went nuts and fell in love with Japan. All this time in Asia allowed me to really sit down and reflect on the bigger picture--what is it that you're trying to do, Judy? Are you doing enough of it? Keep ya ass moving and stop thinking and start doing shit. Ok? <-- yeah, that's how I talk to myself. Bahaha.. Tough love (aka the ways Asians make it through in life).
That pretty much sums up 2015 in a nutshell. I have a lot of GOALS I wanna accomplish in 2016 that I'll write out in another post. Keeping the hustle alive and keeping my eyes wide open for the upcoming year, so let's end 2015 with a big bang.
Bang on, my friends. (Ok, that sounded weird, but who gives two shits!?)