Getting more out of my days

As a bar tender, working so late, I'm used to waking up... sometime in the afternoon. But I hate that. I always feel like I've wasted the better half of the earth's rotation. So I've been consciously setting an alarm clock and waking up earlier. 

Today it's the middle of the afternoon.... which for me is 3:30pm... and I have already shot part of my next video, written in my journal, went for a walk outside (It's beautiful!), did laundry, cleaned my apt, and wrote an entire chapter for my book... yes book. I'm writing a book... a memoir of all the hilarious, and emotional lessons I have learned and relearned.  

On that note...I'd just like to make a shout out to my friend Derrick. Derrick: THANK YOU for your thoughts on my blogs. Your reaction to what I write has given me that much more confidence in telling my story and achieving my dreams. 

Here's to confidence and dreams people!!!

Finding the Full Potential

It was only five days ago that I found myself admitting to some one that I hated where I was. Upon their recommendation, I started writing three pages of whatever I want in a journal every morning. In the beginning, entries consisted of how tired and uninspired I have felt... But towards the end of each section I found myself praying... for what it is I'm looking for. It began with energy. Then inspiration. Then courage.
And then in the most serendipitous way... I watched the Oprah finale. Oprah spoke about how we are all worthy of greatness. We all desire to be heard... to be validated." The universe speaks to us and it is our job to listen. "

Five days ago I was complaining about all the wasted talent I have. When I was younger, I spent ten years training in Martial Arts. I became a second degree black belt. I got bored with it and "gave it up". Drawing was also my LIFE as were comic books, until I got bored with them. Then in college I drastically changed my focus from ART to ACTING... graduated with a B.F.A. in Performing Arts. Unfortunately, I lost the passion for that as well. In moving to NYC I found work as a bar tender. It was exciting at first. I got to meet and work with people that are now some the the greatest and most influential people in my life. I fell madly in love NOT once but twice.
It's amazing what five days will do for you if you open your ears, your eyes, and your heart and you just listen. I have been blessed in so many ways. All of these passions are gifts that have been given to me. I see that now and I am en route to finding new ways in using them. (Check out my music videos on youtube.)

My hope for any one taking the time to read this is that you too realize that you are blessed and special and capable of accomplishing WHATEVER it is you are called to do... if you just open up and listen.

The explanation of my JUDAS video.

Judas is a song off the new Lady Gaga album: Born This Way. Lyrics to the entire song can be found on Lady Gaga's website Ladygaga.com.

The whole reason I decided to make a Judas video was because it paralleled how I felt about my life. I have been feeling uninspired, unhappy, lethargic, bored, and uncomfortable with just about everything that surrounds me. So I prayed for inspiration... and a few days after I was listening to the lyrics of this song at the gym when I realized it's about betraying yourself. By saying "I'm in love with Judas" you are surrendering to all the negative thoughts that exist within you. You are giving them power and you are letting your ego control your life and the decisions you make. And it was like a huge light bulb!!! That's exactly what I was doing... giving all my negative thoughts and my rather large ego empowerment. Doing this will never serve any one. So I decided to make a change and film a video about this.

The video begins with red lettering (the color of martyrs) which reads "We Betray Ourselves." Because at some point all of us will give into the negative thoughts we have about ourselves. In other words we all make mistakes and no one is capable of perfection. When we let the negative thoughts control us... part of our spirit dies. The God that exists inside each and every one of us dies. Therefore the first image seen is the most powerful iconographic image in Western civilization: The Crucifixion.

Two characters are portrayed in my video: The Christ Character who represents love of self, freedom, and expansion and the Judas character who represents false pride, restriction, and settling. For those of you who do not know Biblical history... Judas is said to have betrayed Jesus when he gave up Jesus' whereabouts to Roman soldiers. He did this because he was afraid for his life probably. And F.Y.I.: Your ego will fight for IT's life. Take note that both characters are portrayed by the same person (me). This is because both characters are the same person. There are always two sides to everything and every one. It's the design of the universe. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

One of the best aspects and most successful visually in the video (for me) is the use of the cape. As anyone knows... the cape is one of the "true" signs of a hero... But I have Judas in a cape... because sometimes our ego tricks us into believing we are something we are not. The second shot in the video is of the cape expanding (there was a fan underneath me). So with the first two images I'm saying that when you surrender to the negative, part of you dies and your ego becomes empowered.

In art, Jesus is most often depicted with a halo around his head which symbolizes his divinity. Therefore the first FRONTAL shot is of the halo leaving Judas' head because here comes the broken record: when we empower the ego we relinquish our divinity- our worth- our potential.

And then the BATTLE ensues. Good vs. evil. You'll notice that all of my dance moves are very combative and punchy. This further pushes the idea of fighting... and luckily it's the only dancing I'm really okay at given my martial arts background. My friend Reggie jokes that I have a signature more: the Fist Pump! Also the struggle to keep the cape on and floating about in a magical way represents the struggle of the ego to stay strong.

All backgrounds that I have used are crosses in one form or another... symbolizing all the crosses that we will bear in life... all the obstacles that we will face. There are shots with chains involved... obviously chains can be responsible for holding us down.

Towards the end of the video there is a focus on my faith tattoo. Immediately after is a profile shot of the Christ character rising up off the ground and reaching towards the light... to reach for control.

In the end, it is up to us to decide our own fate in life. "Do I remain a victim?" or "Am I worthy of greatness?" The video ends with the Christ character OFF the cross, alive, and breathing DEEPLY.

"I am Frank Boccia and I am worthy of greatness."

The Sistine Chapel Comes to Life in Brooklyn

Yesterday I was very very very lucky. I went with my friend Rob to see Sarah Small's "TABLEAU VIVANT of the Delirium Constructions- a live exploration of implausible interaction" at B.A.M..

The experience, and it truly was an experience, has left me with an overall desire to CREATE.

Upon entering what could easily be explained as the quintessential chapel... the "audience" quickly began filling up towards the front. Making my way forward having no idea what to expect.... my vision quickly became unobstructed. There it was. The first comparison in my mind went to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel... but this turned out to be so much more.

Each and every human body, some clothed and some unclothed (most unclothed) remained posed over miles of drapery, as though waiting to be painted and waiting to come to life. And that's exactly what happened. Atop of this masterpiece a woman who had been still with all the other bodies, wearing a giant Elizabethan looking gown began to sing... something operatic... something beautiful... something quite transcendental giving the setting. After this... a shift in ever one's pose and three more woman began to sing in such a haunting way it gave me goosebumps.

The exact timeline of what happened and when it happened escapes my mind. There was a point when suddenly all of the "performers" stood and faced the audience and began to slowly breathe in and out... with no sound on the exhaled breath.  Just breath. It was at this moment that I could see many of them wiping the tears as they stood into place to face the "audience". The most amazing part for me was when the Elizabethan woman began to sing again in English this time. As she began to sing all the bodies partnered with one another... in the most beautiful poses.... And then I caught the words "only you and me." As I realized what was being sang, wiping the tears from my cheeks and watching what could be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I realized that two of the couples were holding hands facing each other in non poses. This was because underneath the operatic song... actual wedding vows were being said in one case and renewed in the other... I later found out.

It all concluded with a procession of the bodies; bodies of all shapes, colors, and sizes, into the audience. Most of them were staring into the audience as they processed outward. I was left feeling a part of something bigger and greater than I had expected... as an audience member and as a human being.

Thank you Sarah Small and all who were involved in such an extraordinary work of art and life.

Check out Sarah's website: ContaminateNYC.com

Listen to Your Heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC1uX7esjUA

So here is the link to one of my first videos... Listen to Your Heart. I shot this In February, in Central Park, with my good friend Eric Bourne. Eric is a part of Parsons dance company. He is super talented as well as an all around beautiful person. So I felt very lucky that he was eager to be a part of my first project where I was only behind the camera and not in front.

Drew G is a DJ who has this amazing podcast called Dirty Pop. Check it out on iTunes. I first fell in love with his mixes at David Barton Gym. So I decided to use this particularly amazing portion of one of them where He took the song Listen to Your Heart and added music from the score of TRON by Daft Punk. The music reminds me of a battlefield.

So I started thinking how dramatic the beats were with the reiteration of "Listen to your Heart". It reminded me of the battle inside yourself when you're in love but something inside you has changed or something in the person you're with has changed and you are essentially battling yourself to figure out "Do I stay or do I go?" It's not an easy situation by any means: when two people people love each other and respect each other but have found themselves on different pages. A war begins inside to analyze where it went wrong and what will happen if I let go? What will happen if I stay?

My original idea was to do a video in a blizzard. I thought that would be the perfect backdrop for this tumultuous subject matter. However by the time I was ready to shoot and got Eric on board, the snow which prior had been so abundant, was melting. So another concept began to form in my head. The idea of "The grass is greener on the other side".

The video is obviously  about a battle inside yourself.... there are two sides in the video..... the more muted shots portray a more contemplative character who is waring with decision making, and then there are the more technicolor, VIBRANT, sinister shots of a seductive alternative to that character. Yin and Yang. I really like the concept that seductive is bright and shiny and not dark and seedy. While there are dark shots.... in particular the ones where Eric is wearing the veil... I like that the saturation is bumped up and you can see those bright blue eyes.

The choices we make in relationships... of all kinds... shape us as human beings. When we meet people... for 30 seconds, or for years at a time, we are always affected. The people that we decide to "shack up" with severely affect us. I once read an amazing book called "Eat Pray Love" recommended by my best friend Nikki Lanza (after my first big break up). By now every one has heard of this... but there is an amazing part of the book where the protagonist, Liz, is told that you can have multiple soul mates.... sometimes living with a soulmate is just too painful because by definition a soulmate is a mirror.  They exist in your life to show you... YOU. That stuck with me.
And that is "Listen to your Heart."

A new beginning.

Alright. So I've decided to put myself out there. Recently a customer of mine told me about this thing he does where every morning he writes 3 pages in a journal upon waking up. So I started yesterday. I like it. I've decided that I LOVE making music videos. It combines a lot of my passions and it's just so much fun. This might seem silly but it's a big deal for me because I haven't loved someTHING this much in quite a while. So.... I'm posting a lot of my videos on YOUTUBE. Please check them out and offer up any constructive criticism.