Was there a moment when you realized you were you?
Is there a quote or motto that you live by?
As a requirement for graduation from Acting school, I had to write a 20 page thesis about Acting. That made no sense to me! Acting is physical, interactive, and completely spontaneous and raw. It's the opposite of analyzing things on a piece of paper. So....I didn't do it. I petitioned to get into a Playwriting class, and wrote and submitted a play instead.
Two major events have shaped my life. When I was 23, I had surgery to remove a brain tumor and then underwent a long period of rehabilitation. I realized I didn't want to leave this world not doing what I loved. Another event was being welcomed into a theater family at UC Berkeley. I realized that I was not alone in wanting a creative life.
People see a petite Asian girl like me, and often think "meek" or "foreign". I don't relate to any of those assumptions. I think that's why the creative arts always spoke to me. Art lets me express and surprise and create something beautiful outside of a societal label. It's mine alone. It can make me shine brighter and if shared, allows others to shine brighter as well.
I like that Laudi Vidni encourages people to design their own bag according to their personality. That's a form of creative self expression. I like that Laudi Vidni acknowledges that people come in all different shapes and sizes and from all different backgrounds. And these people deserve their faces and their story to be celebrated front and center. That's lots of shining lights right there.