"It's Better to be Feared than Loved."

Sometimes I really wish I could live by this quote.  I really do.  There's a lesson that everyone has to learn in life and it takes longer for some than others.  I'd like to think that being a good person and helping others will earn you respect but the truth is, some people will never respect you.  Some people will never like you and never treat you the way you deserve to be treated, no matter what you do.  The trick is to not let it affect you or your happiness.

When it's all said and done, you are in control of your happiness.  The world is going to keep turning and people are going to react to you based on what's going on inside their own heads.  Keep doing the things that make you happy and being the person you know you're supposed to be.  Some people will love and support you no matter what you do, others will belittle you out of their own jealousy.  So why should that bother you?  Because it's human nature.  We want everyone to love and respect us but it'll only kill us if that's what our happiness is based on.

This has always been a big problem for me.  But the nice thing is, I'm aware of it!  YEAH!  That's always the first step, recognizing the problem.  So I'm focusing on shaking off all of the hate and the jealousy that comes at me.  Because it's trying to keep me down and I can't let it!  I'm on the path to much bigger things and I'm not stopping.  So if there's anything I can say to you today to help you or inspire you to live a better life and be a happier person, it's to never let anyone else bring you down!

Keep your head up.  Let them fear you because of your ambition and drive.  Who knows, one day they just might love you for it!

Love, 
Kimberly 

It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.

There's a funny thing that happens when you're an actress or an actor where you get a role that enables you to so completely lose yourself that you begin to really wonder who you are anymore.  Things and thoughts that once made sense to you in reality begin to be foreign.  Nothing in your real life makes sense anymore because that's not your life; your life has changed to the life of the character.

Yes, for us characters have lives.  They are not just words on a page but living, breathing people that make choices, have jobs, relationships, problems of their own.  And if we're lucky and we work hard enough, we are blessed with a role that allows us to escape our own reality and live the reality of someone else.  Even if just for a brief moment, it is invigorating.  It is what keeps me going.  To know that I can live hundreds of different lives or even just experience life through the eyes of someone else, how cool is that?!  I'll tell you it really makes you grateful for the life that you are blessed to lead.

I know I am a different breed of person.  I am passionate about my dreams.  I am persistent and dedicated to my goals.  This is what I was born to do.  I know it's not for everyone but I am thankful for everyone that is supportive of me.  Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live a standard life.  I hesitate to use the word normal because what is normal?  Everyone has a different definition.  I think I'm normal but I'm definitely not average!  

Anywho, my mind is racing and my thoughts are getting jumbled.  I guess this quote really does fit today then because right now, nothing really makes sense to me!  But I know amazing things are happening so thank you for your support and keeping me moving forward!  And sorry again that my Kickstarter has kept me away.  Until it ends I think my blogs will only be every other week so thanks for still reading them!

And of course, if you haven't pledged yet, go to beachwooddrivefilm.com and make a pledge to my film Beachwood Drive!  Those roles that we can't wait to play and get to lose ourselves in if we're lucky...mine is in this film!  So please pledge support now so we can hit our goal and I can keep doing what I was born to do!  And yes I said PLEDGE!  Until we hit our goal, no money is taken and nothing comes to us.  So if you do support me and my career, pledge now.  And thank you in advance for being in my life!

Love,

Kimberly Westbrook  

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

Well this week has been surprising to say the least.  I have to apologize for my absence last week but we had a TON of planning for our Kickstarter launch.  It's funny though because it's only been a week and I really do feel like I'm falling down a rabbit hole of craziness!  

It's brilliant!  In a week we've passed $9,000 which is almost 20% of our goal.  Idk if you've ever run a Crowdfunding campaign but it is a lot of work!  It's exciting, scary and somewhat fun but every day is a new adventure.  A lot of people are very supportive but a lot of people just stop talking to you.

I can't let it bother me though because this is what I have to do.  I have to make films.  Hollywood is a hard world to break into unless you have perseverance and determination.  And even then you have to come up with crazy projects and jump through a million hoops to keep them and make them happen.

So I'm jumping through the hoops and getting a film made.  If I haven't said enough, thank you for your continued support.  I know a lot of you are watching this campaign to see what happens.  I hope and pray that you'll support me in my endeavors like you always have.  This world is a crazy one and I'm past the point of getting out.  The truth is, I don't want out.  I belong in front of the camera.  So thank you for helping me make it happen!  In case you haven't looked into the campaign, the link is beachwooddrivefilm.com  You know the drill by now, click it and support with your pledge.  And bless you for having faith in me and my career :)

Love and blessings to you,
Kimberly Westbrook

It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.

I honestly have no idea how this quote has eluded me for so long but I love it!  On top of that it seems to fit right into my theme lately of being imaginative, breaking out of the norm and trying new things!

I love this quote so much because it really can be looked at from two very different, very valid points of view.  On the one hand, it speaks to never learning from our past.  The mistakes that we make in the past should always influence our future unless we want to make them again!

The way I want to look at this however, is for its call to change your future from what your past is holding you to!  Our memory works backwards because we can't make memories from something we have yet to experience.  But our memories are there to guide us into a brighter future, aren't they?  You can't change the past by dwelling on it.  You can't change the good or the bad things that have happened so why do it?

Because if our memories worked forwards for us instead of backwards...then they can't hold us back from what's to come!  Too many times we let opportunities pass us by because of our memories.  We don't take that grand adventure or go down that uncharted path because of the memories from the last time we tried.  But each new adventure is different.  And if we're smart, we learn from it and embrace the memories for what they are, products of that past.  They're not there to keep us from moving forward to a better tomorrow!  They're there to remind us of the lessons we already learned and guide us to be successful the next time!

I love this book the more I blog from it.  It inspires me to be so much more imaginative and adventurous than I ever could have imagined possible.  I'm finally thinking outside the box and looking forward to an exciting future.  I hope you've enjoyed it so far and I look forward to bringing you more entertainment!

...so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.

Some of my favorite blog entries are the ones I don't even know I'm going to write until I find a new Alice quote.  And this one once again jumped off the page!

Can you imagine the things that we could achieve if we had no doubt?  If we gave no mind to anything being impossible, what could we truly do?  I love the way my mind is changing.  I can't tell you how thrilling it is to instead of facing new decisions with why something won't work, instead thinking how we can make it work!  

I am on such a high from this weekend.  I got to experience another amazing message at Mosaic and spend time with some amazing women for brunch!  God is doing so much and changing so much in my life that I just can't keep it all in!  I want to share this newness in me with the world!  Everything really is possible with God and if you're waiting around for Him to make things happen, look at your decisions and your life and see if you are not ignoring the signs and the paths He has placed for you to get there!

I'm telling you, last year I got tired of waiting.  I got tired of wishing something would change and waiting for someone to come along and make my dreams happen.  God made me a very capable, strong woman.  For some reason it has taken me until now to realize that.  He has given me everything I need to create the life I want, I just chose not to see it.  I implore you today, this wonderful Monday, to start making whatever you are waiting for happen now!  You were created with the ability to be great, amazing, unstoppable!  So why are you stopping yourself?  Why have I always stopped myself from doing everything I could ever imagine?  Because of the idea of the " impossible."  

Well, from now on, nothing is impossible.  So GO!  

Love and blessings, 
Kimberly

How puzzling all these changes are! I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to another.

OH MY!  What a week it has been!  So much has gone on that I am just bursting with excitement!  I almost feel as though I'm a completely different person!

We are three weeks away from our Kickastarter campaign for Beachwood Drive!  This past weekend was host of an awesome and very productive meeting for our team.  I can't tell you how blessed I am to have so much support in fulfilling my dreams.  Not to mention I am so charged and driven knowing that so many people have faith in me to bring it all t fruition.  I guess it could be intimidating but I'm ready for it all!

If you haven't gone to Facebook and liked us, please DO!  We will have so many updates, events and specials running throughout the campaign that you won't want to miss out on them!  beachwooddrivefilm.com  

Not to mention that my web series Directions from Here will air its first episode NEXT WEEK!  And I'll being filming Guys' Night the week after that.  I promise more details to come but for now, here's the Directions from Here YouTube Channel!  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKh9jMS0BipEqcVo4-tvw

I've also become a Brand Partner for Nerium International.  This surprises me more than anything because I've never considered myself much of a sales person but I guess when you believe in something, it sort of just sells itself.  I'm hoping this will be the answer to my prayers to get out of waiting tables and finally have the freedom to keep producing more and more films!  

I've always said I never liked being a producer but just knowing that I can have the freedom to create work without someone else's permission, take scripts that speak to me, make the dreams and ideas of my friends reality...it's well, exciting!  But it's all a step at a time.  My thoughts are expanding and my horizons are reaching further and further.  I hope you're as excited as I am for things to come!

Lots of love,
Kimberly

Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.

I think this quote is so fitting, not only because it's Martin Luther King, Jr day but just because of what's ahead for me personally.  I don't have to give you a history lesson about what Dr. King did but I will say that he had an imagination.  He envisioned a world to come that few others could see or ever wanted to realize as a possibility because their reality was so different and a lot less promising.

He had faith.  Faith to take a step on an unknown path because it only takes one step to begin a journey.  And without that first step, the journey can never happen.  It's inspiring.  Mostly because this year for me is a year of taking chances and stepping out towards new, unexplored paths.  I'm afraid and sure I could let that fear overtake me and rule my judgement but then where would I be?  I would be stuck in the same place that I have been and never get anywhere.  

Or I could turn that fear of failure into excitement to experience what lies ahead.  You don't fail when you fall down, you fail by not getting back up and trying again.  Or you fail by not trying at all!  

I don't fear failure anymore because I have come to the realization that I really have nothing to lose but everything to gain!  So I'll let my imagination guide me because right now I imagine what it will be like on a fully financed film set, working with other actors and a director to creating something awesome.  My imagination is what will win this war against my reality because I know it's a reality that will come true.  I have the ability to make these things happen but it takes that first step and a crazy imagination!  

In 29 days, my team and I will launch a Kickstarter campaign for our film Beachwood Drive.  If you haven't seen it yet, check out our Facebook page and like it!  We'll be posting a lot the next few weeks and sharing images, sketches and a concept trailer.  This film is my imagination exploding into reality and I want you all to be apart of the thrilling ride!

beachwooddrivefilm.com

Love, 

Kimberly