Flashback: Stepping Back Into MY Day Dream

"Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.

Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control

and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory."

– Arthur Ashe

I was told to bring dresses, gowns and to look nice. I did not know what to pack, though I knew I would need to look red carpet worthy where it was most important; the most important being at the Tatarstan Filarmonia in Kazan, Russia.

I had waited for that moment for such a long time. I imagined it in my mind, never considering that my dream would come into fruition. And then it did and I had to be my best on the stage, regardless of the cold that the deep freeze of Russia was gripping me with.

I was like a pressure cooker about to explode with excitement at the reality that it was happening for real. The simple idea of it was something worth salivating over and finally, I was at the point where I could tweak the image in my mind like a filmmaker as I literally stumbled into the vivid situation.

I looked like I was serious about what I came to do and confident on the outside, but on the inside, I was hiding my fear of either coughing on the stage in the middle of a song or having a runny nose on the stage, during my performance. But I couldn’t deny the fact that I had finally reached a vision I had only saw in the REM of a daydream. Here are some other photos from that night as well as a piece of a performance that solidified the thought, "Yes, I am here, singing with an orchestra; "At Last!"

With Anatoliy, the condutor of the
Tatarstan Filarmonia Orchestra

With Oklahoman singer and my duet partner
at the Tatarstan Filarmonia in Kazan, Russia,  Tavis Minner

With the Tatarstan Filarmonia Orchestra

The River of Life Shared on an International Stage

Welcome on board to my world. In this life lies the landscape that has captured my imagination. I am a Taino work of art. I am the breathtaking Panoramic view of Kiskeya. The seas of the Caribbean gush through my pores. I shine the sun of Latin America each time I smile. America is embedded in my truth. Just by looking in the mirror, I can see the world in my infantile eyes.

I am not the brightest star that soars up into the sky. But I have climbed heights as tall as the Ural Mountains on this thoroughfare I call life and made a sense of home in God’s presence. 

I could unload my heart and tell you all the difficult challenges I have faced to arrive at this shining hour but all the unique experiences that have brought me to this point have somewhat softened my character. Based on that, I find no need to jump back into the -42-degrees Celsius waters of the past to define who I am.  

I am a bronze ballerina who has gone from city to city dancing under the night sky. I am an actress who has scrolled the frames in films like Audrey Tatou in Amelie. I have seen with my own eyes the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia from Sarah Palin’s window in Alaska.

I have indulged in the amenities at the Georgian wine festival. I have gained energy by breathing in the aroma of the Northern Dvina River. I have explored Suvar Plaza. I have worn the greens of Tatarstan in the Philharmonic theatre of the third largest city in Russia known as Kazan, while singing choruses with the most memorable of orchestras to have impacted my world. 

I have dined in the sun of Troitsky Avenue in Archangelsk. I have done incredible things I had never done before until today like, singing on world stages in my first ever music tour which was in Russia.

I have interacted with others in a foreign tongue to properly present myself. I have traveled far to perform simple tasks around the world that after I endured to the end, was encouraged to keep pressing on.

Life has been a journey which was met confidently. And to have become so immersed in things makes me truly see the vastness of God’s blessings. His hands have made a large exhibition of works worth exploring which can be best seen by changing landscapes and seeing the world from different points of view and not just your own jungle in which you dwell. My sole purpose in writing this is to share with you the great things my eyes have seen; and there is so much more to see. But to retrace my steps of what I have experienced,

I can honestly say that it has 

been wonderful.

I invite you to come to my river. The river of life shared on an international stage with a friend of mine, Tavis Minner and a wonderful band at the Ufa Jazz Club in Ufa, Russia. Together, we sung "Route 66" which is a song that is revered by many around the world. There was so much good music around me and thanks to my friend Anastasiya of the Skyways Band, I can share this video with you all who are willing to watch. It was the love of music shared by each musician that made the night so beautiful. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrafo-nFcB4

Thank you for reading my blog post!