We recently connected with Renée Westbrook and have shared our conversation below.
Renée , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from my love of sports. I’m very competitive and love to find my way around obstacles that lead to stealing home base or winning a tennis match with smash volley that just stayed inside the line. Life will throw you every kind of curve ball you can imagine and in my mind I’m going to win. No matter what. Sometimes winning is about holding on and, as Jada Pinkett Smith talks about, following the breadcrumbs all the way to the end of a particular journey. Other times it’s just about staying in the boat. No matter how hard the wind is blowing, just stay in the boat.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I consider myself an artist because I love to express myself in a variety of highly creative ways. I’m a playwright, essayist, screenwriter, actor, director, producer, songwriter, and a musician. Trying to squeeze myself into a box has never been my thing. That’s one of the reasons it took me so long to accept my creative self. Because everyone told me I had to focus on either one gift or the other. Now, I understand that I am all of those things and if I don’t express my creative self by writing a song and playing it on the guitar I’ll end up feeling really crappy inside. I learned to embrace all aspects of my creative self. .
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?
The three most important skills that were most impactful in my journey are being still, trusting God, and never giving up on myself which has to do with faith. For me, I love to be on the move. I love to be busy so I don’t have to think about anything negative that’s going on in my life. Also because I just love the idea of moving towards something that I’m working hard to build. But the time always comes when I hit a wall and I’m forced to stop and listen the what Oprah calls “the whispers”. It’s good self-care to just stop and smell the roses; to watch “The Twilight Zone” reruns all weekend long. Trusting in God and never giving up on myself go hand-in-hand with each other. Without him guiding me, without him whispering in my ear “turn left”, I’d be totally lost. The faith end of it has to do with perseverance. I want to see how far I can go and believing in myself helps me raise my self-esteem. The best advice I have, especially for women is no matter how old your are, no matter where you are in your life, no matter how much money you have in the bank, NEVER give up on yourself.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
“The Color Purple”. Without question. I experienced a lot of abuse as a kid and I was the different girl, the tomboy who could beat the boys in just about any sport. The abuse led to me use alcohol to numb my feelings because I didn’t know how to deal with the truths in my life. When the book was first published in the early 1980’s, a friend suggested I read it. It was the first time in my life that I understood that I exist. My little black girl quirkiness had meaning. My writing letters to God and being different like Miss Celie made me feel here. I didn’t even realize that I have an interesting personal history with some of the actors, the publishing house, and the story itself. I recently received permission to use content from “The Color Purple” in my critically acclaimed, award-winning one-woman show ” Shelter”. I’m working to put it all together in an upcoming run, probably in a Fringe Festival.
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Image Credits
Dramatists Guild photo courtesy of Leslie Reilly. File photo courtesy of Beth Accomando. Fringe Festival screenshot courtesy of Beth Accomando Shelter Show Mascot photo care of Internet Commons
