Humans of Steemit - An Interview With Daphne On Art, Children, Creativity, and Leaving the Cycle of 9-5 Jobs

"I once was walking on the street and came across a beautiful boy named, of all things, Gabriel, playing the trumpet like you wouldn't believe; and playing on the street because he needed money for his lessons. So what I want to do is set up a giving program and have auditions once or twice a year. People are talking about hunger and poverty and those are important things. But for anyone who's oriented like me, a poverty of the spirit is going to be just as debilitating. One of those philosophers said, you need books more than food or something like that. That’s how I feel."

Humans of Steemit Project

Hi friends! I am beginning a new project designed to share people's stories and market Steemit at the same time. It is called "Humans of Steemit" and was inspired after "Humans of New York". Here is the project:

I will walk up to strangers and ask if I can take their photograph and interview them. I will then tell them about Steemit and tell them that if they want, their interview can be posted on my blog on Steemit. I will also post on Craigslist and see if anyone is interested in meeting up to be interviewed. If they are willing to do the interview, I will tell them about how Steemit works and offer to give them half of the Steem Dollars that I make from their interview post on two conditions. The first condition is that they make a Steemit account themselves. The second condition is that they share a link of their interview post with all of their friends on Facebook. I have created a Facebook account for Humans of Steemit in order for them to tag the page and verify that they did indeed share the link with their friends.

The main idea behind this is that users of Steemit will be introduced to some amazing life stories. Additionally, the people that I interview will be introduced to Steemit and hopefully share Steemit with hundreds of their friends via Facebook. I have created a facebook page at facebook.com/humansofsteemit. I will create a "teaser" post for each interview that I do, with a link directing people to the full post on Steemit.

I believe that one of the beauties of Steemit is that it offers people a place to be genuine. I have seen some of the most popular posts on Steemit be stories where the author was as open and honest as possible. I think this is because we are all searching for and value true human connection. I hope to bring some more of those authentic voices to Steemit in order to foster an online community and add to the value of sincerity that so many authors have already created here.

On the last note, this is our community, and your voice is part of it. I am open to any comments or suggestions on how to model Humans of Steemit. Please send them my way! Also, from a brilliant suggestion from @bendjmiller222 if you have suggestions for future interview questions please send them over :-)

The Interview

Me:
Is what you are doing now what you have always wanted to do growing up?

Daphne:
You know when I was growing up I wanted to be a ballet dancer and I was really good at the piano but my teacher told me that that would require 6 hours a day. I think she told me that when I was 7. I was like, I don't want that for my life. I wanted a nice varied and interesting life. So that was never a dream, I just love piano but I never wanted to become a musician. But then I fell in love with ballet when I was 8. I wanted to be a ballet dancer all the way into college and I danced all the way through college and I danced a little bit after college, and I think I took class right up until a couple of years after I moved here.

Me:
And what are you doing now?

Daphne:
So now I work as a writer and an actor and sometimes I’m a camera host. So like tomorrow I have an acting job as a TV reporter. You know, I tried to work in these "day job" environments. Either I would get very bored and/or it was just really difficult. It was really stifling for me. I know that’s not all that unusual but it was always very striking to me how many people were happy to show up and look like everybody else and act like everybody else; use the same expressions as everybody else. That’s really hard for me to understand. So I was working in a high rise in downtown San Jose for about a year, and I always couldn't wait until lunch and just get some fresh air and walk and breathe.

Me:
How did you take the leap from the nine to five?

Daphne:
I was pushed. I got laid off and it was the weirdest experience. I was sick the whole time so I spent a lot of time sleeping. And I just restored my health. And then I answered an ad on Craigslist, and it was a photographer. I don't know what he was using those images for but he just kept saying, you should get back into commercial work, you don't have a bad angle. He kept encouraging me. So I went back to Craigslist and got some pictures and I started working.

So, then I started focusing on more short films and stuff like that and improving my reels and then found an agent that would represent me in Los Angeles and I just had an audition with this major casting group in Los Angeles and I'm just over the moon. And that was for a TV series. This was for seven lines in two scenes and it was for comedy and it was not earmarked for a black person so I just couldn't believe that I even got that.

Me:
When you think of your home what immediately comes in to mind?

Daphne:
Well, I’m about to move. So what I love about where I live right now is beautiful high ceilings and lots of windows and lots of light. Those are always priorities for me, and I’ve been looking a little bit and I’m horrified because there are some places are just maybe only 7 feet high. I mean they're so low and for me it's just stifling. I feel like I’m shut in and I’m not going to be able to have any creative thoughts. I just did a story about children's rooms and I was talking to one of the designers and he was also moaning about the fact that there are so many children’s rooms in this area that are teeny tiny, while the master bedrooms are huge. I started the article explaining how studies show that cramped spaces are negative for children, in terms of imagination and creativity and feeling like anything is possible.

Me:
What at the moment are you most thankful for in life?

Daphne:
At the moment, it's coming to a deeper appreciation for the whole notion of gratitude because I really do feel like everything starts there. You know, when I was younger I obviously had a lot of blessings but I was always focused on what was negative and I was always worried and always anxious so, that’s one thing that I’m hugely grateful.

Me:
When you are 90 years old what do you think will matter to you most in the world?

Daphne:
That I have been able to realize my dream of helping children. I once was walking on the street and came across a beautiful boy named, of all things, Gabriel, playing the trumpet like you wouldn't believe; and playing on the street because he needed money for his lessons. So what I want to do is set up a giving program and have auditions once or twice a year. People are talking about hunger and poverty and those are important things. But for anyone who's oriented like me, a poverty of the spirit is going to be just as debilitating. One of those philosophers said, you need books more than food or something like that. That’s how I feel.

Me:
Are you holding on to something that you need to let go of and if so what's stopping you?

Daphne:
Well no, I just let go of something that I have been holding on to which is much too close an attachment to my birth family. It was one of those things where I always knew that I had to let go of them and I kept backing away slowly over time and then finally made that break and it's amazing how everything fell in to place after that.

Me:
Who’s had the most overwhelming influence on you?

Daphne:
My mother. Her perspective on life I think has really informed mine. I have kind of cherry picked the good things like being independent. She always said don't expect a lot from people. Not in a negative way, but just so you can be self-contained and go about your business.

Me:
What was one of the scariest moments of your life?

Daphne:
One answer is, I was doing a play in college. My mom came up and I came to the door. She didn't recognize me because I was wearing makeup. That was one.

The other one was, I was in London for a week and I was just wandering. I wandered and suddenly I looked around and there was nobody there. There was this alley. And suddenly I was surrounded by Oliver Twist and Fagan. I mean literally it was just like, I looked around and their teeth were dirty and they were in rags, and you would think that I had imaged it. I grew up in Ohio, you know in a suburb. I knew nothing about crime but I did know that the teachers told us that criminals are shifty eyed. I know it's ridiculous but that is what they used to tell us. But this guy just looked straight into my eyes the entire time, so that really threw me off. And I was out of my water. I didn't know what they’re going to do. I had no idea how they operated. So they were just surrounding me and they moving around, kind of like, almost an organism. So then suddenly Fagan goes, “Let the lady through”. And then they all just parted. They just parted and I just walked through and just thought, what made him say that? Why didn't they take advantage of me?

Me:
What makes you smile most?

Daphne:
Children. I just love seeing children and there is something so magical about a child's smile and I just think it's just so important to do right by them.