Recently we moved into our new place here in Burbank aka Burbank Hills. OMG! What a view!
Something that I have noticed about living up here besides the spectacular view is the shift in my mindset.
For quite sometime, the impact of the non-strike hold up by the Screen Actor’s Guild, has really put a lot of us in the industry on hold. And that translates into very little if any income for those of us in the business. It has been scary especially for me as a producer as one of the most important aspects of my job is solidifying funding for all our projects.
My husband Earnest even has a nickname for me – Scrilla (slang for money!)
Well, it’s hard raising money in a good economy. Imagine how tough it is in this economy! I spend my days shaking trees, looking under rocks, pitching ideas, and then going back and shaking the same trees! Kicking more rocks hoping I’ve missed something. Sometimes the desperation can be overwhelming and this can wear a person down. I have even resorted to begging and pleading if that will free up money to keep our business going and people working.
The other night as I was driving back from a Women In Film International meeting in Beverly Hills, I drove through downtown Los Angeles and it struck me as I looked up at the tall buildings and all the busy activity - I live twenty five minutes away from downtown and can see LA’s skyline from my house!
From my backyard, I can look out and see my world from a different perspective now. For way too long I have lived in the valley looking up at the hills and wondering, hoping, and praying, how much longer will we endure such craziness.
Since we moved, it’s like a shift happened. I’m owning this hill top view. We may have been in the valley for a time, but things are changing and so should I.
We (Earnest and I) have worked our asses off (yeah I said it!) to get where we are and I have been walking around feeling defeated and it has affected my attitude, my mindset, and my perspective.
And I hope that I am not sounding arrogant, because there is a part of me that still feels like a Burbank Hillbilly. What I am saying is that my new view has given me a new way of really seeing. Seeing what I’ve been and giving me hope for what I have yet to accomplish. Where you live, I am learning, is more than just a location. It is where you live in your mind that makes all the difference. A nice address and view are just places, but when your mind is right, you see things differently, more clearly. The view from my home may have sparked a change in mindset, but the real difference came only when I looked inside myself to see my own worth, and surprisingly, that worth had little to do with anything more than my own sense of who and what I was.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy (Thanksgiving) Valentine's Day!
That's right! Happy Thanksgiving Valentine's Day!
This year the Harris family decided to combine holidays so we celebrated Valentine's Day with a turkey dinner. All that was missing was the cranberry sauce and my famous chocolate pie! I'm thinking I'll run out in a bit, pick up some cranberry sauce and cut the jellied cranberry into little hearts for leftovers this evening for presentation! Ahhh...who said I'm not the romantic type? Oh that was me.
But, I am thankful today as I am every day. Thankful for the the family I have. Thankful for all our friends. Thankful for our home and all our companies. And thankful for the fact that as crazy as the world seems right now with the economy, the jobless rate, and the amount of suffering that we know is happening, that our family is together and we are happy and we haven't stopped laughing.
To be honest I don't know how we do it!
As my 11 year old son put it the other day when he questioned both me and my husband, "Is that all you guys do all day, just crack each other up and laugh all the time?"
Earnest and I looked at each other, thought about it for a second and burst out laughing. "Not ALL day!", we both responded.
The truth is, we do! We have to laugh. Laugh with each other and continue to love each other and be thankful for each other. It seems to me that when things are as tough as they are right now, my practice says, dig in deep. Change will happen. And until it does, keep loving, be thankful and whatever you do, don't stop laughing.
Happy Thanksgiving Valentine's Day!
This year the Harris family decided to combine holidays so we celebrated Valentine's Day with a turkey dinner. All that was missing was the cranberry sauce and my famous chocolate pie! I'm thinking I'll run out in a bit, pick up some cranberry sauce and cut the jellied cranberry into little hearts for leftovers this evening for presentation! Ahhh...who said I'm not the romantic type? Oh that was me.
But, I am thankful today as I am every day. Thankful for the the family I have. Thankful for all our friends. Thankful for our home and all our companies. And thankful for the fact that as crazy as the world seems right now with the economy, the jobless rate, and the amount of suffering that we know is happening, that our family is together and we are happy and we haven't stopped laughing.
To be honest I don't know how we do it!
As my 11 year old son put it the other day when he questioned both me and my husband, "Is that all you guys do all day, just crack each other up and laugh all the time?"
Earnest and I looked at each other, thought about it for a second and burst out laughing. "Not ALL day!", we both responded.
The truth is, we do! We have to laugh. Laugh with each other and continue to love each other and be thankful for each other. It seems to me that when things are as tough as they are right now, my practice says, dig in deep. Change will happen. And until it does, keep loving, be thankful and whatever you do, don't stop laughing.
Happy Thanksgiving Valentine's Day!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Our Cali Girl
Today my husband Earnest and I got such a kick out of our 10 year old daughter Maria who is clearly a 'Valley Girl'. Maria was born here in California. Burbank to be exact.
Keep in mind, it's sunny and warm 345 days out of the year where we live.
We have our own seasons here. We have a rainy season, fire season, awards season...
For the last few days, the weather report mentioned rain. Which we very rarely get here in Southern California. Being the responsible parents that we are, we made sure Maria packed an umbrella in her backpack.
Well the weather report was right and it rained all day. When we picked Maria up from school this afternoon, she opened the car door and was suddenly panic stricken as she yelled out, "How do you close this thing?" (Referring to the umbrella.)
She's wrestling with the umbrella while trying to throw the backpack in the car and get in the car all at the same time. And upset because her jeans are soaking wet. She's clearly frustrated and on the verge of freaking out.
Earnest and I both looked at her and were bewildered by her question and strange behavior. Earnest calmly said, "Maria, you're ten years old, you should know how to use an umbrella!"
Then it immediately dawned on us, wait a minute, this is the same child who once asked us very sincerely and genuinely did not know, "What's a coat?"
Keep in mind, it's sunny and warm 345 days out of the year where we live.
We have our own seasons here. We have a rainy season, fire season, awards season...
For the last few days, the weather report mentioned rain. Which we very rarely get here in Southern California. Being the responsible parents that we are, we made sure Maria packed an umbrella in her backpack.
Well the weather report was right and it rained all day. When we picked Maria up from school this afternoon, she opened the car door and was suddenly panic stricken as she yelled out, "How do you close this thing?" (Referring to the umbrella.)
She's wrestling with the umbrella while trying to throw the backpack in the car and get in the car all at the same time. And upset because her jeans are soaking wet. She's clearly frustrated and on the verge of freaking out.
Earnest and I both looked at her and were bewildered by her question and strange behavior. Earnest calmly said, "Maria, you're ten years old, you should know how to use an umbrella!"
Then it immediately dawned on us, wait a minute, this is the same child who once asked us very sincerely and genuinely did not know, "What's a coat?"
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Joy of Eating and Sleeping
The other day I was thinking about my happiest moments and asked my husband, Earnest, "Babe, when am I the most happiest?"
He paused for a moment and said' "Oh, that's easy. When you're sleeping!"
I was shocked by his answer and refused to believe it. So he suggested that I ask our kids Lawrence, our 11 year old son and Maria, our 10 year old daughter. He promised that he would not prep them and that he was 100% sure that they would also come up with the same answer.
I turned my nose up at him and told him, "There is no way our kids will ever say that about me."
During the Super Bowl game today, I took a little nap during the second half of the game and when I awoke, Earnest and I both remembered my question about my happiest moments.
So, Earnest being the fair person that he is, asked the children, without leading them in any way, "Kids, when is mom the most happiest?"
Maria, thought about it for a minute and replied, "When you're eating and sleeping."
Lawrence, who couldn't wait to chime in, then put his two cents in and said, "Yeah mom, you're like a baby because you wake up and you eat and then you go back to sleep. And if you don't get your sleep and if the food doesn't taste good, even if you're the one who made it, you get mad!"
Who knew?
He paused for a moment and said' "Oh, that's easy. When you're sleeping!"
I was shocked by his answer and refused to believe it. So he suggested that I ask our kids Lawrence, our 11 year old son and Maria, our 10 year old daughter. He promised that he would not prep them and that he was 100% sure that they would also come up with the same answer.
I turned my nose up at him and told him, "There is no way our kids will ever say that about me."
During the Super Bowl game today, I took a little nap during the second half of the game and when I awoke, Earnest and I both remembered my question about my happiest moments.
So, Earnest being the fair person that he is, asked the children, without leading them in any way, "Kids, when is mom the most happiest?"
Maria, thought about it for a minute and replied, "When you're eating and sleeping."
Lawrence, who couldn't wait to chime in, then put his two cents in and said, "Yeah mom, you're like a baby because you wake up and you eat and then you go back to sleep. And if you don't get your sleep and if the food doesn't taste good, even if you're the one who made it, you get mad!"
Who knew?
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