I first caught drift of Jane the Virgin when Gina Rodriguez won the Emmys and though I would constantly see the commercials while watching all my CW shows, I wouldn’t really get into it. It wasn’t until one day I got caught into the Jane and Michael love story (but that’s a plot for another time) that I couldn’t get enough of the comedy, the narrator and the Hispanic culture integration. From there I was introduced to the beauty that is Justin Baldoni and by chance came across his epic wedding proposal after an hour of watching random wedding videos and proposals (I know I’m 18, but it was just one of those days). It set the bar high for the expectations I now have for my future husband. And though it’s 27 minutes long, it’s worth every second. So, for my future soul mate wandering this world, I offer you the key to winning my heart.
From there, I’ve followed the television star’s projects and came across a video with Wayfarer Entertainment that served as an inspirational message to his daughter. I looked to it for strength and inspiration for what I wanted to have as a future tattoo due to the power this video carried in the image of the sun.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k95zbBq9I1I align:center]
So, you can imagine my delight upon seeing his face plastered behind a floor to ceiling glass window with a statement saying he would be here for a Q & A this week. I made sure to be there on time, but even when I was, I ended up waiting in a line extending all the way to the Lion’s Den because apparently an hour early is not early enough (something to note for the future). He passed by for a mere moment walking to his location and I felt my heart drop as he said hi to us in line and I swear we made eye contact as my jaw dropped and I found myself saying “hi, hello, hi” in different intonations with the same wide-eyed look of being starstruck. From that point forward, the night did not disappoint and I just wish I had been taking notes the whole time I was there because sometimes the memory falls short on recapturing emotion-stirring, heart-stopping experiences. So, what follows will just have to suffice for the moments that stood out to me most.
Life is too short
Before even beginning the Q and A, we were shown a clip from Justin’s documentary entitled My Last Days. My Last Days is a series of stories following six people with terminal illnesses as a part of The CW’s CWGood platform aimed to spotlight The CW actors’ efforts in raising awareness for a number of charitable causes. Justin is a significant part of this program as he is involved with multiple causes, but that’s something I will get to later. As far as his documentary goes (now streaming on cwtv.com), it truly embraces how joy can be found on the precipice of death, reminding viewers that you don’t have to wait to die to start living life. Given that, the first words he spoke were life is too short not to do what you’ve always wanted or to hold grudges.
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/my-last-days/
Don’t lower your standards
We’ve all heard it before when we are told not to expect too much from people and to lower our standards when looking for a significant other. Despite that, I have continued to trudge through the crowds of faces, refusing to settle until I find someone that pushes me to become everything I am meant to be and loves me as if I am a part of his everything. In this way Justin encouraged us to remember that we all deserve that kind of love that unites two individuals into one functioning body that may fight, argue and disagree, but attempts to work together all the same. That is the kind of love worth waiting for and by lowering your bar, you give men the opportunity to act like boys and the permission to give you less than what you deserve. Thus, you don’t need to lower your standards, boys just need to grow up and rise to where you’re at in life.
Love and marriage takes work (and several boy band dance moves and music video reenactments)
Like I said, marriage is a two way streak where two people promise to work through the adversity following the honeymoon stage, the distance and the disagreements. Justin proved that on an epic scale with his proposal and you could tell through the way he talked about his wife that day that what they had was real- not because they had a spark that never fails to ignite an unending passion between them but because “every day him and his wife wake up choosing to love each other and that’s the key to marriage.” Also, marriage is a sign of unity between two people and because of that it is one of those connections in life that takes time and energy to make it something worth fighting for in the long run.
Have another love in life
To keep persevering in your passions, have other loves to focus on in times of rejection and disappointment. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing your dreams, but in order to prevent yourself from getting wrapped up in all the ups and downs of that one thing. It will keep you sane, whether that love is exercising or family or something as simple as going to the beach, its good to diversify your interests so that you aren’t solely defined by one thing in life. Besides, humans are such complex human beings that there is so much more to us than one compartment. And if you disagree, I encourage you to explore other fears, confusions and excitements in life and feed what makes you feel good. Feed what revolutionizes thought and stirs up commotion in the soul. And when the time comes, prepare so that when you get the shot that matters you can give it everything you’ve got.
Trust your intuition
Now this part was so in-sync with my current journey of life that I became so instantly overwhelmed by the “signs” and the idea that I was on the right path in life because this man (who has seemed to figure all out in life) was speaking to the very journey I was taking in that same moment. In fact, I was concurrently writing an essay at that time about trusting your intuition so the alignment of my life with that of one of my role models was utterly mind-blowing. Just moments before, I was telling a friend about meditating and how people just have the wrong idea that causes them to miss out on the benefits of existing. I even mentioned how it helped me increase my intuition and moments later Justin said the exact same thing. He explained his creative process and the plethora of ideas that hit him anywhere and everywhere, while he scrambles to record them in the notes section of his phone. However, in deciding which idea is worth pursuing among the rest and knowing what the right step is, he emphasized intuition.
What’s your why
Going back to the entertainment industry (or even just posting videos on YouTube), it’s not worth all the time and effort if you’re doing it just to get famous. Fame is not a reason to do anything really. So, the next step beyond that 10-second moment of world attention is to find the reason why you create, act or decide. It may take time, but it’s worth the struggle and the patience because eventually you will have found your compass- your inner gauge- rarely affected by the opinions of others.
The Arabic word for human means to forget
As people, we tend to forget both the little things and the big, traumatic moments that become too difficult to retain in our memory. After all, despite establishing my morning routine, I still forget that I need to change clothes after brushing my teeth. But what is a memory worth if we don’t get the
How can we truly remember and remind ourselves to keep to a path of purpose if at first we don’t forget it?
He is deeply committed to his faith
The Baha’is faith is like a combination of comprehensible inspirational quotes and deep spirituality with the belief in God. In Christian America, you aren’t necessarily exposed to that many religions outside of your own very often. The most I have been exposed to other religions is in college and before attending this Q and A session I had never heard of the Baha’is faith and if I had seen it in a book I would have had no idea how to pronounce it, nor would I have acknowledged that it is a faith that exists today. However, upon hearing about Justin’s unwavering commitment to his faith and listening to him quote religious texts ver batim, I was absolutely intrigued (and if I’m being honest I was even almost tempted to convert to it for a second).
When Rafael is interacting with children on Jane the Virgin- it’s really just Justin
When asked if fatherhood has shaped his role as Rafael on the show, Justin mentioned that his interactions with children on set fully body his role as a father in real life. So, his role playing a great dad in certain scenes is really him just being the phenomenal parent that he actually is. There’s no need to pretend when it comes to kids, as his paternal nature truly shines through.
We all seek that deeper meaning
In a very profound statement, Justin mentioned the difference between fear, the ego and the heart (the soul). And I’m not trying to get all philosophical here, but there is some substance in the idea that fear stimulates our ego and is often the more frequent motivator than our hearts. But, if we can recognize those differences, then maybe we aren’t as materialistic and superficial as we think. Bottom line- we all look for something in our life to feed more of the heart, even if we aren’t there yet. At the end of the day, we all want that deeper meaning in life.
Birth and death are more similar than you think
We prepare ourselves for the next world at every stage in our life. When we were babies, we were born into the womb developing eyes, ears, lungs that we wouldn’t know we would need until we die in the womb and are born into the next world- a world that was only an inch away the entire time. And finally we understand these lungs are meant to breathe in oxygen and our ears are meant to take in noise before that noise becomes sound. Then from that point, we develop virtues like forbearance and kindness before we die in this world and are born into the next- a world that could similarly only be an inch away, though invisible to the human eye. And even if the atheists are right and there is no other world, at least we have cultivated ourselves into better humans.
Humility is key
When asked who he looks up to as a role model in his life, he mentioned anyone who is humble. Especially in the entertainment industry, it is really easy to make your work al about you and separate your ego from your creations. So, Justin looks to figures of humility to ground him, since he hopes to embody that kind of life all the time. Sure, we all give in to our ego from time to time, some more than others, but from my viewpoint, Justin was already so down to Earth, grateful and humble that I’m not sure how you can get any better than that.
Keep going with it (Emily Baldoni)
You know you have a real celebrity crush when not only are you in complete awe of his/her talents (and appearance- now, let’s be honest here) but you just can’t help but love his/her significant other with equal fervor. Getting the chance to speak to Emily and get not one, but TWO hugs from her had me shaking in my light brown heeled booties (literally, I could feel my whole body shaking while speaking to her). But in addition to the initial shock, I was further starstruck by her grounded, inspirational words that encouraged me to continue my love to create and constantly feed into that no matter what.
You can surround yourself with positive energy all the time (Emily Baldoni)
After listening to the Q and A, not only was I struck with so much admiration, but I wanted to be surrounded by that kind of feeling and energy all the time. I’ve been fortunate enough in my life that I surround myself with such influential and inspirational people and am constantly finding more people who embody that kind of energy. But, I was scared to believe that I was just dreaming and eventually that bubble would pop. So, believe me when I say it was absolutely reassuring to hear from Emily that that feeling and that choice is completely possible and doable. it’s a choice after all.
He is a true humanitarian
As I mentioned before, Justin is truly dedicated to serving the world through his craft and doing his best to really make the world a better place. In addition to producing meaningful and heart-touching content through Wayfarer (such as My Last Days), he is involved in Better Make Room- an organization set on empowering youth to pursue education, and Carnival of Love- a special one-day event created to provide hope for the homeless population on Skid Row.
http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/cwgood#carnival-of-love
Life isn’t going to just fall into your lap
You hear it all the time- “just put yourself out there” but sometimes it comes time to ask yourself at what point does “there” start to become too daunting that you just want to sit back and wait for life to give you a sign. And yes, sometimes you do need to pull back in life, let go of your steel grip on every decision in life and simply let nature guide you at its will. But, it’s healthy to remind yourself to seek opportunities at every corner and keep your mind open for connections and passions. Maybe the person sitting next to you in class could be the future love of your life, maybe your professor in the class you hardly go to could be your ticket into your dream job. So work hard and opportunity will be just around the corner.
Though I don’t have social media, I saw that Justin had posted about the Q and A event online (after some minor celebrity stalking) and other college students were quick to request that he speak at their colleges as well. I’ll be honest, I kind of wanted to keep all the revelations and self-realizations to myself, but soon enough I realized that everyone needed to learn about Justin’s remarkable insights into life, especially if they were unable to experience the session themselves.
I kid you not, for the rest of the night and on the day that followed, I felt like I was on such a high on life and was filled with such awe and motivation. In that moment, I knew that I wanted to work for him at some point in my life (I mean he is only 10 minutes away after all) because I became inspired to surround myself with that kind of life-changing energy. And I’ll admit, the feelings did not last and I did get lazy in the upcoming days (as does happen to young college students), but that doesn’t change the fact that that day made a real impact in my life. It encouraged me to believe that my path was starting to fall into alignment (yes, at 18 I realize that can be fairly presumptuous) and whatever that may mean for my future, I know that statement is everything I need it to mean right now.