Women, as well as men, in all ages and in all places, have danced on the earth, danced the life dance, danced joy, danced grief, danced despair, and danced hope. Literally and metaphorically, by their very lives.
I grew up learning from numerous makeup artists how to put on makeup, different ways you can put on makeup, what type of makeup to use, what type of makeup not to use.
Makeup does a lot for your confidence. When I put makeup on, I walk taller. I smile more. I feel good. I know I look prettier. Even if I just put day makeup on.
Well, as I got older and started using makeup, I wanted to use something lightweight under my makeup that wouldn't clog my pores. So I get up in the morning, brush my teeth, wash my face, and do my whole routine. Sunscreen is the first thing I put on before I put on my makeup.
What I found out on Christmas Day 1984, through biochemical evidence, was that telomeres could be lengthened by the enzyme we called telomerase, which keeps the telomeres from wearing down. After I found that out, I went home and put on Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA,' which was just out, and I danced and danced and danced.
I realized that, while I would never be my mother nor have her life, the lesson she had left me was that it was possible to love and care for a man and still have at your core a strength so great that you never even needed to put it on display.
I was never into makeup when I was younger, and I still love not piling on the makeup every day, but as I've gotten older I've actually found makeup to be fun.
In Los Angeles, I feel like I'm wasting time while I'm driving, so now I listen to NPR and the 'Serial' podcast. I'm like, 'Yay! I can learn something while driving.'
I've never really seen myself as an actress. I told myself, 'I'm not going to get a job where I need to put on makeup, or one that I need to do my nails.' I hate the idea of putting on makeup, then removing it.
Here in California, we passed a law against texting while driving. But there's no law preventing you from writing a letter while driving.
My training was never to drink after dinner nor before I wrote nor while I was writing.
Anyone who dials a phone while driving is flirting with death. And anyone who texts while driving is insane.
I never went in thinking, "You're an African-American woman, so you're never going to win." I was just in career doing beauty pageants for the experience, and to show my brains and talent and help break stereotypes. It wasn't like, "Oh, I'll become a star. I'm beautiful." I never thought I was pretty. I couldn't even put on eyelashes or makeup. When you come from an environment that's military, and they don't stress that topic of aesthetics or beauty pageants and makeup, there are a lot of things you just don't have that city girls have.
And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,
Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.
I love road trips. If you haven't been on one in a while, it's time to put a trip on your calendar. Driving can help clear the cobwebs of your mind, and you can learn a lot about your fellow Americans while you're at it.
We have a lifetime of wearing makeup, so while it's fun for girls to play, I think it's better that we wait until we're older to wear makeup!