Today I turn 34. If you had asked me 10 years ago what I would be doing today, I could not have guessed. I could not have anticipated the depths of joy and the depths of grief I would feel over the next decade. I would never have believed you if you told me I laid a career down. That I would spend months in a recovery of sorts. I would say “there’s no way I give up on my dreams”. But what she doesn’t know is that a cleansing would come. That she would change immensely and desires would grow and a whole new world would open up. And that the more she lost, the harder she would love. I feel like people always ask on your birthday if you feel any different or any older. Today I woke up and felt both. I woke up with a weird resolve. An unapologetic rumble. Every once in awhile my drive, my intensity is misunderstood. I can’t expect everyone to know me and see my intentions, I can’t expect everyone to give me the benefit of the doubt. But I’ve officially been alive for 34 years now and I’m simply different than I used to be - I’m just not willing to compromise my identity anymore. It took me a long time to learn to let myself out. 20 something Daniella spent a lot of time worried and concerned about what people thought. Don’t be too much. Don’t say that. Play nice. Straighten up. Be cool. Be chill. Be fun. But 30 something Daniella just actually has a little too much to do to have time for that. My God and my people know who I am. My parents raised me and left me - and I am their representation on the earth. I come from very strong stock. Parents who did many things. They were disrupters. And I’m not going to apologize for my inheritance and who I am. I am many things. An artist, a writer, a director, and now a business owner. A wife, a friend, a sister, a fierce advocate. Reminder: you can be more than one thing and so can I. The world will grow to fit us. Annual Bday musings ✔️ Love y’all 📸: my beautiful @breemariefish