Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.
My entire life I've always been told that the sky was the limit and as a kid I never thought just how important those words were. "You can be anything you want to be" was told to us on a daily as children but so many of us soon began to realise just how difficult that was. In life we face so many different challenges that chip away at our self esteem and before we know it we become a mere shadow of what we once dreamt we could be. "You can be anything you want to be" the key thing in that phrase is WANT. Just how badly do you WANT what you want? How much of the lies about your "unworthiness" are you willing to unlearn in order to fulfil your greatest purpose?
When I started modelling I never really thought that it would inspire a thousand dreams. In the beginning it was about the vanity that comes with saying "I'm a model" but that only takes you so far. See the thing is, I'm a person who strives for excellence and what comes with that is you always have to be looking for a new frontier. In 2012 I had the amazing opportunity to get a taste of the life of a model in the USA and I was hooked. I knew instantly that I was onto something that set my soul on fire. However a call from my parents asking me when I'd be coming back was a painful reminder of the obligations that I still had to fulfil back home.
My very first headshot in 2012
In the next few years I felt "stuck" being a student and then a trainee accountant pursuing that ever elusive CA(SA). Through some of those years I would go on resenting the decision I took to become a CA but what I didn't realise is that everything LITERALLY happens for a reason. A few months ago I got a call that changed the course of my life. I still remember how my heart leapt out of my chest when I got that call. You see, today as I sit and write this I have just 2 weeks before I move to the United States of America. If I wasn't working as a trainee accountant pursuing a CA qualification I sincerely don't believe I would have been invited to live and work in the USA. Proof that there is no such thing as luck and that it's simply the universe conspiring to ensure that the opportunity will meet your preparation.
We say the world works in mysterious ways and sure there are some things that are unexpected but if you think about it, the universe is ready to give you everything that your heart desires provided you remain faithful, consistent and work hard. Seriously, some of the stuff that may be happening in your life may feel like a total waste of your time but please know that you never learn for nothing. Everything you encounter in your life is meant to teach you something about yourself and I believe that the whole point to this precious thing we call life is to teach us about ourselves. Everyday serves as an opportunity to become a better version of yourself and surprisingly on most days it's all in the mundane tasks you have to do.
The first brand that inspired my dreams, Victoria's Secret.
I cannot begin to tell you how terrified I am about this major move I'm about to make but I'm also so unbelievably excited about the new journey and the challenge that comes with living in the USA (FYI: I have never lived away from home, I don't even know how to turn on an iron). To be honest with you though I worried about "not making it" in the US and that I would find myself packing my bags to come back home and it's part of the reason I've taken so long to tell people. I realise how silly that fear was though because its absolutely impossible that I could come back to South Africa the same person no matter what happens over there, either way there is so much to gain and so much value to add.
I took this pic of the Empire State Building in 2013. It sounds corny but I knew at that moment that this is was where I wanted to be.
I hope I inspire you to believe in the beauty of your own dreams. There is so much power in believing in yourself. I took a serious leap of faith this year and when I got that call I could not thank myself enough on taking a chance on me. I am so grateful that even when I doubted my chances and thought of a million reasons of why I wasn't worthy of this opportunity I still took the leap anyways. This life thing is so tricky and even though we all have the same 24 hours it's what we decide to do with them that alters our experience. As Drake so eloquently put it on Nicki Minaj's Moment 4 Life " everybody dies but not everybody lives."