#12 TENACITY - Take example on Athletes and Entertainers + Charity Right To Play
Did you watch the Oscars ?
I must admit, I didn’t mind there not being a host this year, it had a pretty good flow. I enjoyed Melissa McCarthy being SO funny in her Queen Rabbit regalia, this could not have happened had there been a host. I loved Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s performance of Shallow and it’s awesome that Spike Lee got his Oscar for best adapted screen play. So well deserved, I’m looking forward to watching his movie.
But what moved me the most was Lady Gaga’s acceptance speech for best song. Beyond the fact that she automatically starts to pant and tear up each and every time she gets an award (but really, who are we to judge, we have NO idea what it feels like to be up there), what she said was very moving and definitely hit home.
"If you're sitting on your couch and you're watching this right now, all i have to say is that this is hard work. I've worked hard for a long time, and it's not about winning. But what it's about is not giving up. If you have a dream, fight for it. There's discipline for passion and it's not about how many times you get rejected or you fall down, or you're beaten up. It's about how many times you stand up and are brave and you keep going." - Lady Gaga
This is a woman who’s a role model to many so when she says you better get your shit together and move your ass, it’s such a breath of fresh air compared to all the crap you see on social media. TENACITY, hard work and discipline is what gets you somewhere, not showing your tits. Albeit it does get you somewhere if it’s done with meaning and purpose, hahaha!
But it’s nice to be inspired by bad-ass women.
Madonna was also a bad-ass, hard working inspirational woman. But she was busy liberating women's sexuality so it was a different vibe. Gaga's appeal, to me at least, is that she shows her vulnerability. Thanks to all the work tough women like Madonna have done before her, she's able to use her sensitivity and weaknesses as a weapon to getting people together, not polarize gender, us versus them kind of a thing. Which is absolutely in tune with my vibration.
One of the slogans for the T-Factor is for Talented and Tenacious who are out of the norm.
As I mentioned in my last Blog post, this month is my Birthday Month. And to me it's all about Giving rather than Receiving.
So I want to introduce you to Johann Olav Koss who is tenacious as fuck and extremely talented. He created the organization Right To Play.
Johann is an Olympic Medalist in speed skating from Norway. This is a remarkable man who quickly understood in his philanthropic work after his big Olympic success the importance of children being children. I am definitely going to reach out to him to talk on the Podcast.
Right to Play brings education and play to children all over the world through sports. As an athlete myself, i know first hand the importance of Sports in the life of a child. The role play, following rules, building community and simply having fun are crucial for building strong and resilient little humans.
I got involved with them when I wrote a song for the Rio Olympics a couple years ago called Bem-Vindos ao Brasil. It was intended for TV and the opening ceremony but it turned out their program was all set a year in advance! I was half a year too late.
Have a listen here, it's a pure commercial gem and the kids LOVE the track.
Missing the deadline of the Olympics, I still wanted this song to have an impact and use it for 'doing good'. So I started researching which charity related to sports I'd want to essentially give this song to for them to use as a jingle or promotional music. That's when I came across Right To Play.
Missing the deadline of the Olympics, I still wanted this song to have an impact and use it for 'doing good'. So I started researching which charity related to sports I'd want to essentially give this song to for them to use as a jingle or promotional music. That's when I came across Right To Play.
This is an organization that brings Sports and Play to children all around the world who would otherwise not have the possibility to simply have fun. It allows children, at least for a short period of time, to be children again. They have centers in many countries in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere with programs that not only entertains kids but also teaches technics to the grown-ups to continue the uplifting work RTP does.
I am forever in awe of strong people who persevere in their greatness. I’m really excited to be talking with strong individuals for my podcast most of whom had to fight from the start because of how they looked.
This is why, and I know i'm NOT supposed to be encouraging you to go elsewhere but my Podcast but here it goes, I LOVED LeBron James' The Shop series on HBO.
I have nothing to do with black men growing up in the hood but I have everything to do with what they share on there being certain expectations people have and had of them for the way they look. I can relate and I'm sure many of you. And they're being very funny too. Definitely check it out (Drake here below.)
Have a smashing week, Spring is coming. And don't forget to check out Diandra Forrest on my Podcast this week. We talk about all things working with Beyonce on two of her videos (whaaaa!?), being a super model and a mom and a black woman with albinism. Just that...
Hugs plenty,
ML.
