"There's no crying in baseball" said Tom Hanks

Okay so I wasn’t the best baseball player out there, but I sure did have a swing that could make Babe Ruth run for his money. I used to play every Saturday morning at the local baseball field with the local Larksville Little League. Everyone was split up in teams by shirt color, some wore orange, some wore red, others wore black, and even purple. This was the time when we were hitting off a T, yup, T-Ball. “Dave you’re up!” said coach while my sister was eating grass in the outfield waiting for me to miss the ball, so she could just laugh and make fun of me at home later. The ball was in front of my face standing on the T, so I took my time as I brushed my cleats together to dust the sand off and I tilted my hat to the side just enough so my hair could peak out.

As I stared at the ball on the T I would swing my bat slowly towards it and out, towards it and then back out. Repeatedly for 27 times in a row, I then eventually hit it, (keyword is eventually people). It was awesome, playing this T-Ball game! I kept at it for the next few years, and then I had a break down. Now next to the T-Ball field was the field for the Major League Baseball, the older kids that didn’t need a T, as I grew older I didn’t need a T anymore. It came when I knew I had it all together. It was a sunny day in June and one of my teammates was promoted to the Major League. My coach took me aside because he knew I was upset and talked to me about how we both were very good, but coaches wanted him. I was upset and started to cry, coach looked at me and said to keep trying and don’t cry, you’ll get there. He knew I deserved to be with the older guys, but it wasn’t his say.

Tom Hanks was right when he said, if it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great. I feel like we all can relate to this. Every. Single. One. Of. Us. If you don’t think you can, then you’re probably an alien from outer space. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider, girls go to college to get more knowledge. Yup! This past season at New York Fashion Week reminded me of this moment from Hanks. It would take two hours on a bus from New York to Philadelphia to head home but I wasn’t ready to leave until I was making a move. And it would only take me a total of 15 seconds to make a move on a familiar face on the runway with Martha Stewart, Kate Nash, Yoanna House, Whoopi Goldberg, Fabulous, and more, and I wasn’t about to lose this move to anyone who had a job title as “PR,” aka public relations.

There are going to be hard times in your life that you feel you can’t get through or are too tough to even fix. But the truth is, that you’re a beautiful spiritual person and whatever moment and whatever time they come, you need to think to yourself and look at it as a learning experience. There is no such thing as failure. Girls, have you ever gone out on a date with a guy and felt completely head over heels for him? He ruined it, he didn’t love you, he cheated, he Tindered, he just didn’t make you happy. Or guys have you ever played a sport that you loved and when it was your time to play, you are wide open on the soccer field. It’s your moment, right then and there, the game is on you. Your teammate kicks the ball to you and as you receive the ball, you motion your body to kick and you end up falling on the ground or you do end up kicking and the ball goes no where near the net. Your team then loses. You learn from these experiences to make you a better person.

When People’s Revolution gave me my ticket to head to the SKINGRAFT show - which was not that long of a wait – SKINGRAFT was already being let inside, so I got in line, holding my camera, my ticket, and my jacket and waited to be seated. As the doors were swinging open, I couldn’t help but think about who was going to be here and could get to hold my Follow Your Dream sign. “I’m here and I’m ready to stay and fight” – all is what went through my head. But it wasn’t that easy, I didn’t have a pass to stay on the runway before the show. *Before a fashion show starts you are able to walk around if you are press and you are then able to talk and meet anyone sitting front row. It’s pretty exclusive, so if you don’t have a pass for the runway, you need to leave.*

A few days earlier I was able to talk my way out of it to a few PR reps. “Uhmm excuse me, where is your pass!?” “Hi my name is Dave and I am working with Runway Magazine, my boss knows Michael Costello so it’s okay.” “You don’t have a pass, you can’t be here. You need to leave.” “I’m not leaving, she was just with him yesterday, talk to Michael or ask for *****, I’m sorry.” “You already exhausted me, and won, here is your pass.” I said thank you and smiled. When she left, I said to myself, “Holy shit, did I just do that?” The more you do something and practice, the more you grow as a person and individual. The PR rep situation may be small but it still was something I can learn from.

SKINGRAFT, was a different story. As I made my way around to meet a few others I was stopped by Emily Bungert, Kelly Cutrone’s main PR Rep. “You’re fucking up my front row. I need you to leave. Now.” I was in the middle of talking to Che’Nelle who was a well-known artist when Emily came up and kicked me out for not having a pass. I understood it was a business and I needed to leave, I didn’t take it to heart. As I sat down I couldn’t get the whole thing out of my head. “Was I just yelled at by People’s Rev? Were these the rules of fashion? Was it always hard to find a way on the runway without a ticket, a sticker, or a stamp on your forehead that says you’re here?” - If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard that makes it great. Tom Hanks once said, and it’s true.

Anything you do in life you are going to go through hard times. The SKINGRAFT incident doesn’t bother me at all, it actually made me stronger. After it happened, I learned different things to say or to even ask for a runway pass, and if I didn’t, I learned not to piss anyone off like Emily. (You can still get your way).

You can take any moment in life and turn it into a positive one. Whatever has been bothering you and making you stop doing what you love or want to do, go fucking do it. Get off your Tinder and log out of your Facebook and go out there and Follow Your Dreams. There are going to be people and hard times that will stop you and may even break you down, beat the shit out of any “hard” that is standing in your way. If Forrest Gump can run across country, so can you. Learn from your experiences, embrace it, hold it, and don’t let it ruin you. Next time it gets hard, don’t look at the first person you see and say, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like a penis with a little hat on?” Because the umpire may kick you out of the game, just ask Tom Hanks.

Thanks for reading everyone

Be sure to follow me following my dreams

Facebook & Instagram

Mahipal SoCal & @mahipal_socal