Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bell Littell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Bell, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
My mom is a natural risk taker. Since I was a little girl, my mom put me in all sorts of activities and exposed me to all sorts of communities and interests, partly because she was a young mom in college that also had to work but also because she wanted me to know what was out there. Naturally, I gravitated towards creativity, music, performance, travel and volunteer activities. However, she would still have me finish the activities I didn’t like which made me capable of seeing things through and coming to the conclusion that I did 100% NOT like them. Those activities included soccer, ballet, fencing and anything that had to with heights. This is where my risk taking began and then when I got to high school, my mom enrolled me in online school so that we could travel, which was a BIG risk but one that I was so grateful for. That experience made me learn so much more about the world than I would have in the inner city high school I did eventually attend for my Junior and Senior year. Once I graduated high school, I was well equipped with how risk taking works. You have a small thought about trying something, then you plan out how it could actually become real, you create a budget and save for it (that budget could be with money, time, etc) and then you take action. The most important thing about risk taking I think is that you have to learn to persevere through it, take the lessons learned from the risk whether it works out or not. And remember that the sunken cost fallacy is a fallacy, so even if you try something and you don’t like it, make a plan to wrap up that chapter so you can proudly move on. My ability to take risks has allowed me to live a life of adventure. My husband and I live in a camper and have traveled all over the U.S. and I’m going after my dream of being a successful music artist. It’s gonna be hard either way, whether you take the risk or stay in the same place. There are obstacles in both realities, but when I face the unfamiliar obstacles that come with my life, they remind me that I’m living the life I want to live in the first place.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I have wanted to basically be a STAR since I discovered Hannah Montana and Disney Princesses as a little girl. But I have also wanted to be someone that inspires the world and empowers people to heal their wounds so that they can go after their dreams and write the story of their life, rather than letting it be written for them. It has taken my entire lifetime to figure out how to do that because I had to learn to do it for myself first. Last summer, I put out my first pop song “a STAR”, which is a song I wrote about a fortune teller telling me that all my dreams would come true if I just put in the work. Last fall, I put out a song called “Dreamer” which is about the struggle that undocumented immigrants have to face in the United States, a struggle I have witnessed up close since I was a little girl. And most recently, I put out a song called “Evil Eye” which is an enchanting track about sending negative energy right back to where it came from. I have been working hard to carve out my story, what I represent and how I face adversity both in my real life and in the music I’ve been making for my debut album that I plan to put out this year. Life is so messy which is why we have storytelling. Through stories, we can identify what the roadblocks are, how we overcame them, the people who helped us and the emotions that come with all of it. Then we can weave the intensity of a harsh reality with the magic of being alive to create a gorgeous and real tapestry of our lives. That’s what I am trying to craft through music, one of the biggest things that connects us all. Once I do that, my plan is to perform the music and share its message wherever it takes me! (hopefully, to a city near you!)
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Optimism, perseverance and healing have been the most important qualities in navigating the life I want to create. You have to continue to be optimistic, you can’t lose the whimsy, inspiration and drive the made you start in the first place but you also have to protect your optimism by not just hoping for the best, but by creating it. Perseverance is what you need in order to stay realistic. You have to get back on the horse every single time and then identify what isn’t working and try something new. Plans are an illusion, the plan lives in you which means you’re allowed to pivot, change your mind about something or reroute. Healing is one of the most important qualities because if you haven’t healed from past trauma or old wounds, your mind is unable to make the right decisions in moments of stress, fear and anger (which come often). I always say that, “healing is the never ending revealing,” but with each piece of you that is put back together, your ability to understand yourself and make healthy decisions becomes stronger. Keep optimism, perseverance and healing in your back pocket and pull them out when you need them.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Midnight Library is my favorite book ever. It’s a fiction book that tells the story of a woman who is so unsatisfied with her life that she tries to take it. But in the state between life and death, she enters The Midnight Library where she is able to try on all the lives she wishes she would have lived and she discovers something profound. I read this book whenever I feel lost or overwhelmed and it always steers me forward. In the book, she tries on lives she wishes she had lived and discovers that she has to lose something significant in every single one. Whether she loses a loved on, her sense of self, or a life of adventure, there is always a compromise that has to be made. That’s. Life. Upon this discovery, she is able to let go of the regrets she has in her root life and just LIVE again. And the story is set in a magical library with her elementary school teacher as her guide. It connects the harshness of reality with the magic of being alive and it completely changed my perspective of my own life. I worked at a bookstore last summer and sold that book like my paycheck depended on it haha. If you’re reading this, please read that book.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://belllittell.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artisticallyghetto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artisticallyghetto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BellLittell
Image Credits
Yair Porras
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