The ocean breeze and sun blew a combination of mist and sand in my thick raven tresses. With hair of my texture it tangled, but I didn’t care in the least. I welcome it. The grains might as well have been glitter. The ocean spray was a christening. Because Malibu brings out a glow in me that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.
It’s a place I used to call home —a place where I received my education, first became an adult, and learned to soar. The seagulls fly Above my head, their wingspan a salutation, a welcome home. They know my admiration for their kind. How their instinct is to wander and travel far and wide, yet they still find solace on the beach. One perches itself on the roof of a blue lifeguard shack. He’s peaceful. He’s a messenger from the divine to enjoy this slow pace before the rush continues. As I write this, it’s August 3. Time stops the eve before my 25th birthday. I’m on the cusp of the beginning of the second quarter of life, and it’s thrilling. Thank you God for these moments of serenity, and the moments of saturation.
Now, I pick this entry up as the sun sets on my birthday. Year twenty-five marks a quarter of a century of life. It’s been a full one, it’s been beautiful, joyous, sometimes heartbreaking, full of hope, and full of lots of love. I used to be under this delusion as a teenager that at 25, my life would be wrapped up into this beautiful bow, that I’d have everything figured out. I’d be married to the man of my dreams, settled in my career, and the rest of life would be the “ever after” of my hero’s journey. I was in for an awakening I am extremely grateful for: Twenty-five is the genesis of the rest of my very abundant life. I haven’t figured it all out, and as I’ve learned from mentors and friends I look up to that are older, you’re constantly learning and evolving.
This past year alone, I’ve excelled leaps and bounds as a human being. There’s a fire and strength within me that has always been there since I first opened my mouth. It’s been there since I sang at the top of my lungs as I swung on my backyard swing at five years old and proclaimed, “I will fly on my father’s wings, to places I have never been,” (if you understand this reference, I have the utmost respect for you).
That song was always a lion’s roar. It was always the crescendo of the waves of the ocean. But the strength and fire within me have ignited like no other as of late. Fear has cowered before the woman looking at me in the mirror, (thanks be to God who is responsible for that). And yet that woman is still the little girl who watched Disney movies and dreamed fiercely. She didn’t quite fantasize about being a princess, although she always wanted to have a royal’s grace while having the strength of a lady knight like Kaylie in the “Quest from Camelot.” When Beauty and the Beast’s Belle said, “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere,” that girl with the thick raven hair and wide brown eyes said, “me too.” When Hercules said, “I will go the distance,” she whispered, “me too.” That girl is still me, even as my features have sharpened and my voice has deepened into that of a woman.
This year alone, not even thinking back to the last 25 years, my becoming is evident. It’s been forged in tears, in laughter, and smiles. This year alone, I’ve lived in three time zones while living in the same place (more on that in a future blog post about my on-camera reporter anniversary).
That girl is still me as I’ve seen the best and worst of humanity as a reporter. I’ve covered a hostage situation, shootings, and I’ve braved the snow of the Grapevine. I’ve not only experienced but had to report about a pandemic. But I’ve also attended and covered the Oscars. The American Music Awards, interviewed the former Secretary of State and current House Minority Leader, and introduced myself to both of them with the utmost confidence. I’ve realized my worth, even when it’s been tested. I’ve aced that test. I’ve been studying 25 years for it and was never going to fail.
Quarter two is just around the corner. I plan to make it even more interesting than the past 25 years of traveling to 12 countries, studying abroad, attending London fashion week, countless award shows, interviewing A-list celebrities, world leaders, dealing with a pandemic, promising to fulfill my family’s legacy, getting a bachelor’s and master’s degree at world renowned universities, starting my own talk show, recording my own original music, dating, sitting on the edge of my seat as my parents and grandparents have orate their beautiful life stories, crying on my loved one’s shoulders and gladly returning that shoulder, serving and receiving, loving and being loved, accepting God personally into my heart and receiving his blessings while hoping I can help carry out his blessings to others, being on television every single day, singing and writing songs, writing and finishing two novels, blogging, exploring new cities with delicious cuisine, breathtaking historical architecture, watching lots of movies, devouring hundreds of books, collecting pieces of clothing with their own stories to tell while creating my own in them.
You bet I’ll continue to be well dressed while blogging about all of it along the way.
Keeping it Krischic,
Kristin Vartan
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Keeping it Krischic 