Daphne Zuniga Quotations

I get really excited when I have moments where my head - my mind - disappears, and I get this moment where I start to tingle, and maybe sweat a little bit, when I'm in that space of feeling real connected with everything, every living thing. I first started feeling this probably as a child, but again when I started meditating.

Early on, my emotional work had to do with feeling unheard and invisible. My parents divorce at six, when I was six, really affected me. We moved around and I was with my mom and my sister. I have learned, by the way, there were amazing gifts that came out of that. For one, I'm living my childhood dream. I feel very fortunate.

In one sense, I felt not seen and heard enough as a child. At the very same time, I'm watching her and modeling her. At seventeen, I left to go to Hollywood to pursue my dream, as if there was no other option. I only learned that, the gift of it, recently. And I often forget it.

Think about how long it took for the mountains to get there and look so beautiful. Think about how long it takes for this tree over us to grow. We're so impatient. Think about it. This leaf here took forever to become that perfect leaf. We're that. We're work in progress. That's actually being alive.

It's not like it's perfect at all. But it's there. The love, it's there. The respect. The day to day has to bring you ease and comfort and safety. The waking up in the morning and going to bed at night, and everything in between has to bring you that. Or else what is the point?

How many times have I been in my therapist's office, saying, "I think I'm smarter than this! I've been down this road! I've learned this lesson!" And she's like, "Yeah, and you're learning it a little bit deeper."

There's a feeling that feels like what I've been told is love. It has to do with what Louis Schwartzberg said today about beauty, love, whether it's squirrels outside my door, the rabbits, or the birds. They're not trying to impress me or anything, and me watching them isn't getting me or advancing me in anything. It's just beautiful. When I think of the relationship I'm in, there's a feeling that comes over me sometimes.

Whatever the emotion is, I have learned over the years to give it space, which is also why I love acting.

Telling the truth. I finally have that with my boyfriend, and that makes me vulnerable constantly. Without vulnerability, you're not really alive. Your vulnerability is your power. Sitting in your house alone, breathing through it. Calling a friend when you need to cry. Being really honest in your therapist's office. Whatever it is. Bringing it into a role, for me. It is your power.

I've been acting since I was a little kid. It was my escape from my day which had to do with a father leaving, and a mother not being home, and her struggling and doing her best and all that. But it wasn't fun. I would go into theater class. If she were a stay-at-home mom, I wouldn't have that discomfort inside that kept me pushing.