I wish we were all taught to love ourselves. I wish we were all taught that our dreams were valid and that not only is "anything possible" for the rest of the world, but "anything is possible" for us.
I was asked to write an essay about daring, but in order to discuss daring successfully we have to discuss hope. It starts with ambition. This is the motor: true ambition. True hopefulness and optimism is what leads one to dare. It is also what lifts one back up, to dare again after a failed attempt. Hope is the battery in our backs. Hope sparks the idea. Hope dreams the dream and creates the vision. Daring happens in a split instance, hope is the investment.
The optimism and anticipation for a brighter tomorrow is the part that is time consuming. It is the spirit that keeps you up at night, cooking up and conspiring masterplans. Thinking about all the ways to get there. Without hope, there is no daring.
Daring is the shot. The opportunity to apply all of the knowledge that you have accumulated and the audacity to bring your vision to life, or to try, at least. Daring is doing. Daring is asking something outrageous, despite your chances of failure and rejection. Daring is going out on a limb by believing in something that no one else understands and if all fails, daring is, trying again.
I was never necessarily conscious of my failures when I attempted something and it didn't work out, because I feel like I'm so in tune with my purpose I never necessarily acknowledge that. It's a point of view. If something didn't go to plan, rather than look at it like a failure I looked at it as a lesson or as an experience. I was just so obsessed with getting better at what I do, it just never occurred to me.
That drive comes from wanting to see a better tomorrow, to see a better future; it comes from hope. It comes from the ability to acknowledge all of the things that are at play in life and the ability to acknowledge that dreams do come true, and things that people claim to be impossible are possible.
At a moment of crisis you have two options, fight to stay afloat and believe in something, or you can sink. For me, I was told where I had to apply to when I was in school; but I just wasn't built for school, my brain just doesn't work that way. I was trying really, really hard and I knew what I wanted to do, I knew I wanted to sing but everyone around me—my parents, society, the system—was trying to pressure me and mold me into something I wasn't. So in that moment I had to make a decision.I hung on to my perspective and the thing that made me happy, as a opposed to conforming and deciding to following a traditional path. I always do what makes me happy—it doesn't make sense to live life unhappily.
So I barely graduated high school, and then I moved to Los Angeles. I was 18 years old. I was creating music everyday, following my art and doing what I thought was best, putting that energy out into the world. I met my producer on Facebook, and he introduced me to my manager. A year later, I started writing songs for Rihanna. The introduction came from Kanye West, who I was introduced to through a friend of my manager's. For me, for my future, I just know I am going try my best and work really hard. I want the world to hear my music, as many people as possible. But really, I'm just doing what I love.
