THE GIRL WITH THE DEAD FACE

I was a shy child. Very shy. So my mom sent me to drama classes. As parents do. After a few lessons, the drama teacher told my mom, best she took me to a psychologist. “She has a dead face.” Told you I was shy.

So, obviously, as any parent would rightfully do, my mom decided to train me in acting herself. She even wrote my prose and poetry and a few years in, I won the entire primary school division.

This led me to doing my B. Tech Drama degree and acting on national TV from the age of 23.

When I was 7. With the dead face. Acting, on stage, and winning. Medals.

My mom wasn’t a drama teacher, I apparently had no natural talent for it according to the professional and neither of us, me or my mom, went on a course or studied it. But she had passion and the belief and insight that maybe, just maybe, this expressionless 7 year old, who was beyond- belief shy, could stand on stage and perform. And so, I did.

My life became a series of acting "gigs" and I was doing what I was TAUGHT to do, rather than what I wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE acting, but a voice within me kept ringing: "There's even more, you could be changing lives, you could learn while living and teach while

The thing is, so often we are MOULDED into the "idea" for our lives, the story that has been written by external factors or by our parents. And somewhere, a lightbulb moment occurs when you KNOW what it is you want to be and become. For some this is a very visible and tangible moment, for others it comes slowly over time.

HOW TO EXPERIENCE THE MOMENT OF PURPOSE? Well, you've got to get to know yourself first. You've got to understand what your skills and strengths are and how you'd like to apply them. You've got to WANT TO choose, shape and create your own life. Make your own rules. Be and become who YOU want to be. Don't let life blow you into a direction, take change, be curious, discover who you were created to be, and follow that passion relentlessly.