Uncategorized

Originally Published Sep. 9, 2014

Imagine working your butt off for five years straight. Working 70 to 80 hours a week with little to no sleep is just the norm for you. Never mind the premature graying and migraine headaches that you’ve developed all for that magical moment of being named partner. Think about all that you’ve missed, from weddings to quality time with family, all for that anti-climatic moment. Was it worth it?

Now, if you are using money as a metric, I’m sure you would say yes.

However, if you factor in the hours of your life that you will never get back, all for a title and possibly a new parking space – was it all worth it? As a life coach, I primarily deal with individuals who are extremely successful outwardly, but have neglected themselves and others. That risk cost them more than just time. It also cost them relationships and moments of joy that far outweigh any paycheck.

I’m here to offer you some key tools on keeping balance in your life.  Make no mistake, I want you to get the title. I just want you to get that title with joy.  Here we go:

Time with friends and family

Never break or reschedule this time for work unless it’s dire. Show those who matter to you that you matter to them. Remember, consistency provides comfort, especially in relationships.

Fitness

You have to take care of you. Exercise provides a release and gives clarity. The endorphins released provide energy and mental stability.

Date Night

I don’t mean with your spouse or significant other. I mean you. Take yourself out and spend some time hanging out with you. Even if it’s just playing music in your room. Zone out and leave work at work. Turn off work mode and turn on life mode.  Find time to enjoy yourself.

Work Efficiency

Not everything requires hours of work. Find efficient ways to lighten your load. If you take some time out to carefully examine your work load, you will discover there are some smart shortcuts that will help you cut back hours you spend at work.

Definitive Desires

It’s important to know why you want that title. Is it to stunt on social media, is it to fulfill an insecurity of yours, or do you truly desire to use that platform as a means for change?  Knowing why we do the things we do will always help us in our choices.

Remember, we have the ability to not only change our world, but the world as a whole. Be great!

Article Written by Pervis Taylor

RELATED CONTENT: Eve Gets Candid About Life And Career In Upcoming Memoir ‘Who’s That Girl’

The opening of A New Kind of Wilderness is narrated by Maria Vatne. Maria is the mother of a family in Norway living outside of civilization. As she tells the story of her family you quickly draw the assumption that this is a documentary on living away from the hustle and bustle of society. Growing your own food, staying away from technology, and homeschooling your children. However, you are quickly shown still photos of Maria fighting cancer at home followed by pictures of her family without her.

A New Kind of Wilderness directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen delves more into the Payne family’s journey after a tragic loss to keep their way of life but also adapt to their current situation.

Maria was the main support financially for her family with the sale of her photography. Losing this source of income forces Nik to make the hard decision to sell the family farm. Nik and Maria had 4 children Ronja (from her previous relationship) Freja, Ulv and Falk. Ronja goes to live with her father shortly after her mother’s death. Nik is left with the daunting task of trying to homeschool 3 children, while providing a source of income for his family. He makes the decision to move closer into town. While Maria and Nik wanted to homeschool their children throughout their education, Nik quickly realizes he must send them to school at least 3 days a week so that he can work.

A New Kind of Wilderness showcases Nik’s struggle trying to maintain their way of life while also facing the reality of his situation. He doubts himself much more than he did when his wife was alive. He even grappled with the thought of moving the children back to the UK (Nik was raised there) so that he would have more access to childcare and better job opportunities.

In addition to Nik’s struggles a large part of the documentary is told through the eyes of Freja, Nik and Maria’s oldest. Maria’s death effects Freja the most out of Nik’s three children. You really see the stress she has worrying about her father, how they will live, and having to go to a regular school (to which she referred to as prison early in the film). 

Her relationship with Ronja is also a source of stress as the two seemed to drift further apart. The documentary does a great job focusing on this relationship as it is the most complicated relationship of the film. Ronja also a child albeit a teenager deals with her mother’s death by pulling away from her family. Being around the other children reminds her too much of her mother. She is not oblivious to the fact that her sister Freja needs her, and you see her try to navigate being there for her sister while taking care of her own mental health.

A New Kind of Wilderness was an enjoyable documentary about the importance of family support. A heartwarming story that will make you fall in love with the Payne family. And while I don’t believe this was the story Jacobsen set out to make in the beginning, it came together in a heartfelt way.

• DIRECTOR(S)SILJE EVENSMO JACOBSEN
• PRODUCERMARI BAKKE RIISE
• EXECUTIVE PRODUCERKIM CHRISTIANSEN
• CINEMATOGRAPHYSILJE EVENSMO JACOBSENKARINE FOSSERLINE K. LYNGSTADAAS
• EDITORSKRISTIAN TVEITCHRISTOFFER HEIE
• COMPOSEROLAV ØYEHAUG
• SOUND DESIGNERYNGVE LEIDULV SÆTRE
• COLORISTTOM CHR. LILLETVEDT
• FEATURINGULV VATNE PAYNEFALK VATNE PAYNEFREJA VATNE PAYNERONJA BREDA VATNEMARIA GROS VATNENIKOLAUS ITHELL PAYNE
• PRODUCTION COMPANYA5 FILM

• YEAR2024
• CATEGORYFEATURE
• COUNTRYNORWAY
• LANGUAGEENGLISH, NORWEGIAN
• RUN TIME84 MIN

The post A New Kind of Wilderness: A Touching Documentary about Moving Forward After Loss appeared first on The Nerd Element.

Downtown Miami welcomed a new addition to its tech ecosystem Feb. 15 with the grand opening of The Source, a Black-owned tech center, according to the Miami Herald.

The project was led by Miami Gardens native Ted Lucas, founder of Slip-N-Slide Records, and his business partner Hilmon Sorey, a seasoned venture capitalist with investments in over 100 companies, including Uber and Lyft.

“If you look like me, I want to see how you are going to help my community,” Lucas said. “That’s very important to me.”

The Source aims to foster local tech talent and support students, startups, and small businesses through accelerators, workshops, and networking opportunities. 

Lucas recognized Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s efforts in attracting tech founders to Miami and engaged with him during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore ways for Black residents to actively participate in the burgeoning tech scene.

“It’s important to have a space like this because there are a lot of different organizations handling different aspects of the tech ecosystem,” said Stefan Owens, head of Growth and Investment at The Source. Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, who attended the grand opening, expressed confidence in The Source’s commitment to supporting startup founders and empowering others.

Through a partnership between Lucas’ Tech Knowledge organization and Florida Memorial University, The Source has supported tech boot camps, training local residents for future tech jobs. “Within the last two years, we’ve invested $500,000 in startup companies, and we’re just getting started,” Lucas said.

Desiray Malcolm, a single mother of two from Miami Gardens, who worked in warehousing, participated in a tech boot camp at Florida Memorial University. Later, she secured became an account manager at Kaseya.

“They say this is the beginning for The Source, but I feel like we’ve already taken off,” Malcolm said.

RELATED CONTENT: New Inpathy App COO Wants to Help People Find Balance, Elevate the Human Experience

By Shelby Stewart ·Updated February 26, 2024

She’s Gotta Have It. Raising Dion. Survivor’s Remorse. Girlfriends. These shows are but a glimpse into the Black shows we’ve seen get the boot over the years. Black television shows are woven into our collective consciousness; it’s where we as Black people can escape, and see ourselves reflected on screen. It’s where we can say, “I’m sorry I lied to you Martin,” and everyone understands the phrase. Yet and still, these shows are only memories now, victims of network and studio decisions to cut them.

January bore witness to the cancellation of Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t after just two seasons, joining the somber cadence that shrouds other shows such as South Side severed after three seasons, Netflix’s The Get Down, and FX’s Kindred after a singular season, abandoned in the wave of cancellations.

The frequency in which we’ve seen these shows get cut on the showroom floor has been far more dense than its white counterparts, and it’s slowly beginning to be tougher to just enjoy the beauty of Black life on screen without fear of shows meeting an untimely demise. So much so that ESSENCE created a running list of Black Shows That Got The Axe in 2023.

Black stories find themselves dimmed by an incessant storm of premature farewells—Lovecraft Country, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and Love Is__, just to name a few. We see ourselves represented on screen only to become collateral damage in the name of budget cuts, leaving behind a void in the hearts of viewers who want to see Black life depicted on television. 

From the Black viewer’s gaze, these show cancellations are more than just a disappointment, they serve as a powerful reminder of how fleeting cultural impact can be on TV. Shows with familiarity, that aren’t rooted in Black trauma, face an untimely eclipse, extinguished before their stories can truly unfold. 

With Kindred, as reported by Deadline, the show debuted to “largely positive reviews” and did manage to secure a viewership. However, despite having an audience, it faced challenges in generating the level of buzz observed with its FX counterpart, The Bear. The disparity in the reception between the two shows underscores a dynamic where audience engagement and cultural relavence played pivotal roles in a show’s overall success — positive reviews and viewership alone might not guarantee the impact needed to secure a place in the cultural zeitgeist.

The lack of diversity in decision-making positions within the entertainment industry is a glaring issue. The scarcity of Black executives in key roles can lead to a fundamental misunderstanding of the unique narratives and significance that Black shows bring to the screen. Without representation at the decision-making table, these shows may struggle to secure the necessary support and advocacy for their continued production.

It’s why rapper and creative Vince Staples is championing his new Netflix series online in hopes of renewal. In response to a fan asking where are the remaining episodes of Staples’ eponymous show, he replied, “Netflix didn’t buy anymore episodes so make sure you hit that double thumbs up. Peer pressure worlds and I’m tryna re up.”

Netflix didn’tbuy anymore episodesso make sure you hit that double thumbs up. Peer pressure works and I’m tryna re up. https://t.co/9WmUuCCMVv

Staples isn’t the only Black creator who is speaking out either. Issa Rae also recently spoke out following Rap Sh!t’s cancellation. “I’ve had faith in the talent I have to captivate a very specific audience – and I think about that audience constantly,” she told Porter in a recent interview. “You’re seeing so many Black shows get canceled, you’re seeing so many executives – especially on the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] side – get canned. You’re seeing very clearly now that our stories are less of a priority.”

When traditional metrics like viewer ratings and ad revenue come into play, it leaves you to wonder – so many amazing shows, that had quality viewership, why do they end up executed? These metrics complicate the landscape for Black shows. The industry has done these shows such a disservice, by those metrics, because they don’t account for the cultural impact and relevance that they have. 

“I’ve never seen Hollywood this scared and clueless, and at the mercy of Wall Street,” Rae told TIME. “Now these conglomerate leaders are also making the decisions about Hollywood. Y’all aren’t creative people. Stick to the money.”

When these shows end, it’s not just an anomaly, it’s cultural erasure. The stark absence of equitable representation and decision-making power for Black creators is apparent. The narratives birthed from the depths of Black experiences find themselves lost by those who lack the acumen to comprehend the subtleties that make these stories both authentic and indispensable.

In a post-SAG strike environment, it’s tough to forecast the viability of a lot of television shows, though there’s a stark contrast in the stakes for predominantly white shows like Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 19th season, or Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, on its 25th or even The Walking Dead, and it’s many iterations and offshoots. To put it in perspective, the longest Black running show, Soul Train, which began in 1971 and went off air in 2006. Following right behind it was The Jeffersons, which ran for 10 years, and ended in 1985. 

As the canceled shows fade away, there’s a crucial moment for change in how Black stories are treated. This calls on both the entertainment industry and society to create an environment where these stories can thrive without facing early cancellation. Black viewers hold these stories dear, and they persist, ready for a revival that ensures their lasting impact in television history.

The post Why Are So Many Black Shows Getting Canceled? appeared first on Essence.