Available here
The main reason I wanted to read Viola Davis’ memoir was entirely because of this short clip (below).
And I’m so glad that I did. What an incredible woman. Favourite parts ahead.
“Memories are immortal. They’re deathless and precise.”
“That period of my life was filled with shame. The feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you have stage fright or humiliation. Shame completely eviscerates you, destroys any sense of pride you may have in yourself.”
“Success pales in comparison to healing.”
“May you live long enough to know why you were born.” - Cherokee birth blessing
“Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.” - Ray Bradbury
“Everybody has secrets. Everybody. I guess the difference is that we either die with them and let them eat us up, or we wrestle with them (or they wrestle with us) until we… reconcile. Secrets are what swallow us.”
“Life is happening as your career is happening. Stone-cold life. I realized my joy is not just attached to artistic fulfillment, but life fulfillment.”
“A mutual friend of ours, Tommy Hollis, told me a story about Danitra. He said he saw a performance art piece of hers called “The Feminist Stripper.” She came onstage and began to take off items of clothing. She had music playing and was cracking jokes while stripping. Everyone was on the floor laughing and egging her on! She got down to her thong and her back turned to the audience, tantalizing them before ripping off her bra. She then turns around and reveals her mastectomy scar; a big X made of tape covered the scar. There was a collective silence, a brutal quiet in the room. They were forced to contend with the woman who was in that body and not just the body itself. Tommy said his heart stopped and he would never forget that experience. She died about two months later. When she passed her final words were, “Y’all have a parade.””
“Success is wonderful, but it’s not who you are. Who you are is measured by something way more abstract and emotional, ethereal, than outward success.”
“I know for sure what we dwell on is what we become.” (This was her quoting Oprah, but still including it.)
“My biggest discovery in life was that you can literally re-create your life. You can redefine it. You don’t have to live in the past.”
“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a different past.”
“The purpose of life is to live it.”
“Even if the Oscar had never happened, it would have still been a defining moment for me. It was an overflow of blessings that I could not even possibly have imagined for myself. What I have realized since is that those moments of feeling alive are part of a continuum. You find that moment. You bask in it. Then as soon as it passes, life becomes about chasing the next moment. I now understand that life, and living it, is more about being present. I’m now aware that the not-so-happy memories lie in wait; but the hope and joy also lie in wait.”
Such an incredible read, especially for actors/performers.
