We were lucky to catch up with Dasia Washington recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dasia , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
When I was 22, I was put in a life or death situation when a man I went on a few dates with began stalking me. I went through months of being terrorized daily. Months of threats against my life. When I was at rock bottom of police not helping me, sleep deprivation and living in a constant state of fear, I considered suicide to just make it stop. It wasn’t until the night he kicked my door in to make good on his threats and I was forced to defend myself against his advances with my firearm that I consciously made the choice to live.
Since that day, I swore to myself that I would never take another day for granted and have honored that commitment to myself. Today, I am proud to say that when it comes down to it, I have so many more good days than bad days because I have felt that darkness before. It’s not until someone feels entitled to take something from you that you realize how badly you want it. I wanted my life and now I choose to live it fully in any capacity that is presented to me.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Today, my goal is to spark joy through teaching people how to roller skate and showing them ways to live their lives intentionally. Few things bring me as much joy and creating and teaching and I feel grateful to have found a way to marry those two things and at the same time, help alleviate suffering in the world in my own unique small way.
I am finishing up editing on the second version of my beginner adult rollerskating course which aims to use the vehicle of rollerskating to develop a strong mind-body connection through mindfulness! It’s broken down into bite-sized lessons to make it that much easy for the busy adult brain to carve out time to show up for themselves in a way that is not only fun, but great exercise too!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Overcoming social anxiety, my fear of being alone and my fear of rejection have been easily the most impactful part of my journey. I would challenge anyone struggling with these areas to just..lean in.
I had social anxiety and would freeze at the thought of addressing a room, so I took a free public speaking course at a community college, then I started hosting trivia which required me to be an Emcee for a room full of people! It seems scary but it was actually very low stakes and I was able to develop a love of sharing. To overcome my fear of being alone, I started solo traveling after a friend baled on a trip and instead of being devastated, I still went! It unlocked a love for being with myself when I realized that I could be great company! I’ve taken many solo trips since and have yet to br dissatisfied.
To overcome my fear of rejection, I forced myself to do things like reciting my poetry at Open Mic and even trying stand up comedy! (despite not being very good at all) It was just to prove to myself that If I do something and fail, even if it’s in front of a room full of people, that the world isn’t going to end. No one is going to care or even remember so you might as well do the thing, get a great story out of it and grow.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Sit Still. This is so hard but whenever I was most overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do. Sitting still for an extended amount of time has always shown me that the answers I was looking for were inside of me. And if I chose to sit still and listen, I could hear the answers I was looking for.
Sit still.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stan.store/Dasiadoesit
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dasiadoesit/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_P14XzTUxP93hXPyZnGbg
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dasiadoesit?lang=en
Image Credits
@dasiadoesit
