Visionary

I’m Lisa Bay Santiago (fka Lisa Bay Adams), and I’m an effervescent optimist. I believe in the goodness of humanity, and I’m here to celebrate life’s journey. With you. I see the good in the bad, and I embrace it all. I’m a dreamer and a doer. I celebrate the best in all of us.

As a TV producer with a background in film marketing, I understand the business of entertainment. I’ve worked in the FBI, at the Walt Disney Studios and on television shows including Intervention and Top Chef. My degrees are in Journalism and Spiritual Psychology. I’ve taught in inner-city Atlanta, worked alongside a primate expert in Costa Rica, collaborated with gang members and federal prisoners in California, volunteered with foster children in China and participated in a traditional Hindu wedding in India. I embrace life.

I love adventure, potential and surprises. I’m one of the GRITS (Girls Raised In The South), which explains my double first name. Lisa Bay. (And my middle name is inspiration)! I live in the City of Angels, and I’m committed to celebrating what’s good in the world, amidst and amongst all that seems bad. Real people. Real stories. Real hope.

Why do I resonate with the silver linings of life? I’ve always been a positive person, and my curiosity is insatiable, but I also believe that life’s journey is about learning and growing from every experience. And I’ve sure experienced some significant curve balls, a few have even knocked me out. While I accept that I can not control [all of] what unfolds in life…thank goodness for that…I can CHOOSE how I respond to what happens. So when the tough stuff happens, and it always will, I allow myself to experience the sadness, the loss, the hopelessness, whatever comes forward.

And then I ask myself, what can I learn from this? Is there an opportunity to grow? Could I be more kind, generous, loving, compassionate…[insert positive quality here]? And here’s the big one – If I am open to the possibility, could this situation positively impact my life and/or the lives of others? In my journey so far, the answer is ALWAYS yes. Why? Because I choose for it to be so.

So I invite you to experiment gazing through the storm clouds, while still acknowledging the whole experience. And if you and I and a few others give it a try, I wonder if we might catch a glimpse of something shiny and in the process create a more loving, peaceful, hopeful world.

THE UP BEAT. A new vision for news.