Come with me on a commercial shoot!

Hi I'm Dija and I'm restarting my YouTube channel. I'm and actor and creator with over twenty years of experience but when it comes to YouTube - I'm starting over. Have you ever felt like something was on your heart for a loooooong time and the "voice" kept getting louder and louder? And it wouldn't be quiet until you listened? Well over the past few years that's been happening with me when it came to creating videos and my podcast. So this is me listening.

This is my artist statement…like why I do what I do :)

I’m not saying anything that you don’t know about yourself. You have so much that comes with being you. Your passions, your dreams, your hopes, your aspirations. I could go on and on about how beautifully complex and interesting it is to be a human being. Yes your mixed roots influence your perspectives, your beliefs and the way you move within this world, but that’s only part of what makes you - YOU.

Oh! I guess I was sitting with a bunch of white kids. Except I never noticed it until that moment. I never thought I was different. I knew I wasn’t white but I never thought that me being who I was would make others so uncomfortable. I just kept thinking that I’m sitting there because they are my friends. We’re in class together.

Why wouldn’t I sit with them?

Many times our multicultural and multiethnic roots can come with both painful and joyful experiences. Sometimes we can feel alone, misunderstood, and out of place. It can feel like our very existence makes people uncomfortable. In the painful times it’s hard to remember that God created each one of us on purpose with a purpose.

There was no mental health talk about being a child of immigrants, there were no mixed hair products there was just black and white. The pain of loneliness feels like a broken heart mixed with anxiety and hopelessness. It led me into depression, lack of self - love and extreme self - criticism. It stole my joy to the point of deep depression and it almost destroyed me.

And I’m not the only one to experience these feelings.

The truth is as you increase in levels of success you will face tougher obstacles. I mean if there weren’t any obstacles to success everyone would be there! But that is not how life works. You overcome obstacles and challenges when you know who you are and in turn, each achievement confirms and validates you making you stronger and stronger.

Today, mixed-race marriages are at a high, and the number of multiracial Americans is growing three times as fast as the population as a whole, according to the Pew Research Center. Although multiracial people account for only an estimated 7 percent of Americans today, their numbers are expected to soar to 20 percent by 2050. There are more and more mixed cultured young people who are going to face these same issues. I want people to know that being mixed doesn’t have to be something to survive but something you can thrive in.

It's so crazy to think back at how in disbelief I was at the things that I was doing. 5 years later and I've taken that one woman show to New York, I've written and produced two short films (one of which is in a film festival), written my first book and just landed a new agent. I'm not saying that to give you a list of accomplishments. I'm telling you so that I can tell you how afraid I was with making each of those moves!

I CANNOT stress this enough! If you want to become an actor you must learn the craft of acting. Start training your instrument (which is YOU) right away.

What is Lent and how to implement it into your life?

I think I’ve been asking this question for around two decades now. In college I realized that I would never be happy making art for art’s sake or for applause or even for a paycheck. I can’t tell you why I feel this way but I can share that I’ve grown up my whole life around people who have cared for their communities.

Creativity.

kriː.eɪˈt̬ɪv.ə.t̬i/ noun.

It’s everywhere you go these days. From movies to shopping malls, social media posts to blogs even the teenager down the street can be a filmmaker if they get their hands on a camera. It seems like creativity is becoming more and more interwoven into our society. You might be wondering how you can tap into your own passions and find out how to be creative again.

Many of us who want to pursue our calling, have to figure it out in the midst of bills, kids, marriage, school, jobs, etc.…you know, REAL LIFE! For the past ten years I’ve been talking about inspiration and passion and creativity online because I’m really REALLY passionate about this topic. I realized a long time ago that we have one life and one shot to go after the life that we feel called to and I made a vow to myself to get it or die trying.

My agent contacted me and wanted to send me on an audition.

My agency was told only to send their very best and I was selected to go! I was so excited that they thought that I could handle going to this audition. I wasn’t able to prepare until the morning of the audition but it was plenty of time since I’m pretty good at memorizing lines if I stay really focused. Instead of trying to sneak in a little blogging like I normally do when I have a free moment I spent time memorizing and working on some character development for the piece. I really wanted to do a good job since I felt as though I was representing my agency for this audition