We stalk the truth as poets, sensualists, a duality, limited insanity. We labor in our muse, carving alphabets of experience into our hearts.
Masiela LushaIf I cannot offer some relief to our world, if I cannot inspire our generation to join me, then I feel I am a complete waste of space. This constant fear of feeling irrelevant in our society has been the catalyst behind all my efforts and passions for as long as I can remember.
Masiela LushaThere's always an added element of a poem when it's read aloud because then you can really hear the rhythm, and the cadence, and even the pronunciation sometimes adds another layer to the poem.
Masiela LushaAs a poet and as an actress, we're taught to be far more elaborate with our words and - I wouldn't say generalize, but definitely stronger with our choices.
Masiela LushaI think going back to school, studying as much as you can, especially literature and close reading some of the most beautiful works. You can always apply that to acting.
Masiela LushaI always feel vulnerable talking about the poetry aspect of my career because it's little diary entries that I need to sometimes close read, and to reveal that much, it's a bit nerve-racking.
Masiela LushaI would much rather sit, dimmed by inattention, and study the atmosphere and the silence and dance between people, but often times Iโm not offered this privilege. The necessity for isolation, and the striving for popularity is the only contradiction I find in being a writer and an actress.
Masiela LushaWhile some mothers sing lullabies to their children, my mother read me poetry. And to this day, I associate my strongest and most insistent feelings with words lyrically organized on a page.
Masiela LushaThat's the best part about being an actor though. One of the rewarding aspects of it is you're actually traveling in parts of the world that one wouldn't necessarily go to just because it's so far removed, but also like even beyond the metropolitan areas. You're in the woods.
Masiela LushaI feel like I try not to limit myself. So every experience so far, I've just gone headlong into.
Masiela LushaI'm not religious, and I feel that has to do with me being uprooted so many times in my life that I've explored many religions and sentiments from many different families basically across the globe.
Masiela LushaMy mom makes this amazing little snack that, to this day, I still think about. It's pita bread wrapped with melted butter, feta cheese, and cucumbers. That, to me, is still heaven. It's my childhood.
Masiela LushaI participated in many different rituals, but for me, I'm very spiritual and I believe that there's definitely be a greater force that defines us and leads us. For sure. No question for me.
Masiela LushaMy children's books are written on the belief that every child has a talent and a passion. Each story unfolds into an adventure of nurturing that confidence until a passion blooms.
Masiela LushaIt is the show that keeps giving. Every night it offers something to society, and it offered something to every one of us. It brought us all together for a lifetime.
Masiela LushaAlthough I was calm as a child, I had this restlessness about meโthis need and hunger to create my own world. Poetry filled that void, and its words fed that vital necessity of ownership.
Masiela LushaActing is not a lofty performance; it is simply the source of becoming and existing transparently. Acting, I find, is the art of frothing to the surface every raw and honest emotion. The moment an actor pretends, he loses his audience forever
Masiela LushaEnglish was my fourth language. I arrived, I enrolled in public school, as a child, I believe I was about six years old when we finally landed in Michigan. And I was initially put in special education because I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the English language because I was listening to Hungarian and Albanian and German. My mind broke down like I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the fourth language.
Masiela LushaI feel it is our inherent duty as a humane society, above any intangible responsibility, to invest in our world's children's potential, passion and confidence.
Masiela LushaI feel my poetry has contributed through all these languages that I needed to learn leading up to English.
Masiela LushaI need to be able to write a poem after every film and to kind of cleanse myself from the character because for about three months or so, I'm constantly living through the character's eyes.
Masiela LushaI think as actors we need to close read scripts and we need to fully understand the intricacies of dialogue as well as the symbolisms of what the actor wears and what they hold in their hand because that only adds more layers to the character.
Masiela LushaI love making pizza with cauliflower dough. Again, can't taste the difference once you add enough ingredients.
Masiela LushaMy experiences there truly defined who I am to this day as far as my humanitarian work because I was a refugee in Albania.
Masiela LushaI would like my books to stand as a tool to unbind children from expectations of poetry because it should free the child to self-expression and exploration.
Masiela LushaI know that there's this one Albanian myth that's always reflected on, and I think it reflects on the actual core culture. That myth is called The Besa. B-E-S-A. The Besa is a word that Albanians use to mean avow, but it's such a strong promise, that even past death, one cannot break that promise. It is unfathomable. So if you give someone your besa, life or death, heaven or hell, you have to fulfill that besa.
Masiela LushaWe have such a finite amount of hours on this planet, and there is just no excuse for living a mundane, predictable life in life.
Masiela LushaSometimes I feel too transparent in my poetry, but that's what I think the beauty of poetry is, because as transparent as the author can be, it's usually only a reflection of what the reader can interpret, and based on their own personal experiences.
Masiela LushaI'm thinking like the character in order to be as authentic as I can. But after a while, how would I be able to cleanse myself from this unless I do something that's a different medium but also creative. That's what I do. It's my little ritual. After every filming, I just write a poem about it and my character specifically and I can let her go.
Masiela LushaThere's a condensed softness about the Albanian people, and I've witnessed examples of their hospitality.
Masiela LushaI just don't know how to stitch words in a predictable way sometimes. It's a weird instinct I've developed.
Masiela LushaI've written and translated my own poems from English to German. It's basically a summation of my identity as it stands now.
Masiela LushaI'm an actress, primarily. I love to write poetry. I've been writing poetry since I was 12 years old.
Masiela LushaAs poets, our lamentations are glorious, filled with the virtues angles would learn to envy.
Masiela LushaI feel in poetry there aren't that many rules that you need to absolutely live by depending on your style of poetry.
Masiela LushaI feel every medium of art needs to heal to some degree. It can't live in it's own void, and this came from my earliest experiences as a young refugee.
Masiela LushaIf I'm not writing a poem to decompress from my experiences on a movie set, I usually just cook and it's like meditative. Especially since I'm at the stage now where I don't really use measuring cups. Kind of instinctual, I just kind of prepare my own dishes as I go along.
Masiela LushaPoetry is a lyrical insinuation. Often, its melodic subtlety kisses the subconscious mind.
Masiela LushaBeing as restless as I am by nature, I couldn't simply just be on set, wait for my turn to rehearse for the week. And I kept reading, but it wasn't enough for me.
Masiela Lusha