Fernando Carsa: Expressing Limitless Creative Powers
The biggest gift we can give to someone else is the gift of our own joy and happiness. When we are happy, we emanate happiness; people want to be around us, they want to know what our secret is, they are inspired by our creative energies, and they want to join in that state too. Joy, happiness, and love is who we are—our natural state of being—that’s why it feels so good to be in love with life.
Award-nominated artist Fernando Carsa, who shines as Memo on the Apple TV+ show Acapulco, says, “I would describe myself as someone who believes his life mission is to bring joy to others. And that’s why he’s been given the gifts that he’s been given. That’s why God in the universe made me and artists, because they knew that my job was to entertain and make people happy. And as someone who is here to enjoy life in every moment and take risks, and just make sure that life is worth living every single second.”
“You are creation, and you are creating, and you are creator” – WEOLA (We All Are One), channeled by Kosta Trifunovic.
God’s gift to human beings is our ability to create and experience the life we want(ed). Whatever dreams we are experiencing now, we wanted that dream in the past tense. We can’t experience something now that we don’t have; the process of wanting is in the vibration of not having it, but it’s the start of moving the creative energies in the direction of experiencing it. However, we are not experiencing what we want, but who we are becoming. Our state of being precedes the inspired action that brings us to discover the steps, often referred to as synchronicities, to experience that which once was desire physically manifested. That’s why when we try to act without first being aware of our state of being, we can’t seem to attain what we desire. First, we have to become the vibration of that which we chose to be—our dream: then we can experience that dream in our physicality.
“Since I started my career, I started analyzing my whole life story and everything that I’ve been through, and everything that has led me to this moment. And I do have to attribute a lot of my success in the US because I will say, the part of my story that nobody knows is all the hard work that I had to do before I booked such a big TV show like Acapulco. Many think that I just booked this big show and made it. First of all, I have a long way to go. And the truth is, I had to be a really hardworking student in the US. I always made sure to get the best grades in order to go to the best schools to prepare myself for what I wanted to do for a living, and that’s how I was able to graduate from UCLA with my theater degree. But I do also owe that to how my parents raised me and what my family and our Latino culture has taught us about: being kind and generous, giving, loving, passionate, hardworking. Latinos are very known for being that type of people. I feel like a lot of Latinos would come to the US end up being incredibly successful in whatever it is that they want to do because they we are people who, in our culture, we have to be very hardworking and passionate about what we do. And we give it all. So, when you grab that, that it’s very culturally in us, and then you bring it into this country in order to succeed. You have to constantly pick yourself up, because it’s not easy, but then it’s a pretty good mix as you get to make your dreams come true. That’s why I feel like a lot of Latinos in the US are becoming a huge force, because our cultural and ethnic background prepares us for what this country requires of us,” shares Fernando.
No one but us creates our own experience, unless we allow others’ opinions to become ours. No one can decide for us how to experience our life unless we allow it. How can we be empowered when we dispense with that power by taking on others’ opinions as true? However, everything and everyone is a reflection of us. If there is something that the other reflects and triggers us, it’s a blessing and an opportunity for us to look within and shift the energetical juices we emanate in the direction of loving, enjoying, blessing ourselves—therefore becoming more of who we are. All that we are experiencing outside of us comes from who we believe we are.
“Something that I’ve encountered throughout my whole life is doubt from other people. I was always told I could never work in this industry because I was a plus sized person, because my nose was too big, because my teeth have a gap between them, because I have an accent… So many things that people have tried to tell me since I was seven years old, and I started acting training. You have no idea how many people would look at me and be like, ‘Really, you will be an actor? You don’t have the look, baby, I’m sorry.’ But for me, honestly, I always put in the work because I remember, for instance, when I was in elementary school, when people would bully me because I believed that I could be in this industry, I would think, one day, they will want to say that they went to school with me. I quickly realized that the majority of the world was so against me, that the only person that I had was myself. And if I wasn’t there for myself, no one else would. Of course, I had my family who have always been there for me. But then I quickly discovered that the first person that had to be there and show up was myself. I also quickly realized that it wasn’t just about wanting the dream, it was about working towards a dream. So I was like, ‘Yes, I’m plus size. Yes, I have a gap between my teeth and a big nose and an accent, but I’m going to work my butt off to prove that none of those things have anything to do with my capability, and my talent, and what I can offer.’ And I have so much passion and love for what I do, that in every single thing that I do, I made sure that love and passion translates. And the audience’s response wins over everything anyone has ever told me any negative thing. The audience applause and their praise, and their energy always kills those, but truly, what I quickly learned since I was really young, is that if no one else believes in me, I have myself to believe and that’s enough. And I was right,” Fernando pauses, and then continues, “I feel like you cannot see light, or you cannot recognize light if you haven’t seen darkness. You know, that’s what I like to say. To my haters, send them love; they needed kindness.”
When we can’t see the light, we can re-remember that we are the light and discover that there is no darkness by lightning ourselves up. There can’t be standards or outer guidelines: they all have been created by us. Each of us gives meaning to everything. Who is to say that things are supposed to be, look, or behave this or that way? We, who are just repeating and telling the same story we’ve heard from others. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if we want to experience something different, we have start telling a different story, too.
Fernando passionately begins again, “I think the most special part about Acapulco, during the show, of course, it’s been making my dream come true and playing Memo has helped me find myself again. I used to have something that I still battle with a lot of body insecurities, self-insecurities and self-worth—confidence problems. And then stepping into the shoes of this character who’s so unapologetically himself, who’s so confident, who so believes in himself, who so believes in anyone who wants to be with him. It really helped me realize that I could also be like that. So, playing him, I based the character on my younger self, who was very fearless because he was so naive. And I feel like I needed to reconnect with that inner child because that’s the kid who inspired me to want to accomplish this dream. But in order to fully embrace this experience, embrace that character, and present myself into this industry, I had to reconnect with that fearlessness. And stepping into Memo’s shoes really allowed me to do that. I’ve become more comfortable with my sexuality, my identity, especially in this last press run that we’ve done for Acapulco. I’m finally wearing the shoes that I want to wear, the clothes that I want to present, and say to the world whatever it is that I want to say. And that’s because Memo showed me that self-love and self-acceptance, that’s what people actually want. They want to see who I really am. They don’t want anything produced or manufactured or something that is a lie. So, it just has changed my whole life. I’m finally becoming the person that I’ve been wanting to be since I was 12, but I was too afraid to be until now,”
Everything is neutral, and you are the one giving the meaning to everything. It’s your life: nobody can choose for you but you. You are choosing it all. Choose what feels good: love, fun, passion, bliss, joy, abundance, well-being. You can have it all because you are experiencing that which you choose to become.
If this statement resonates with you, then you just gained a new tool that with a little bit of practice will bring you quickly to the state of your innate worth and love for your Self, hence for others. When you can recognize the love you are, you will always recognize that love in others.
“Memo is such a kid that he’s been through so much, but he chooses to see the positive side of things. To be completely honest with you, the way that I did the character work is that his confidence and self-love [owes] to the fact that he has been surrounded by women, very powerful women who had taught him to be connected to his emotions and not be afraid to showcase them. And I don’t think he would be able to support Maximo the way that he does if he didn’t believe in himself. Because I think what happens in that relationship is that Memo knows and believes what they’re both capable of. So, whenever Maximo is doubting himself, he’s the one reminding him, ‘No, look how far we’ve come so far. We’ve always wanted this. We’ve making our dreams come true, Maximo. Especially in the second season, Memo is very aware of what he’s capable of, what he can do, and how far he can go. And because he’s aware of that, he also knows that his friends can do it. So, I don’t think he would be able to help Maximo if he didn’t have that in his inner confidence and strength,” candidly says Fernando.
When we want to be included, we first have to include ourselves. When we are fighting to be included, it leads to more reasons to fight. When we don’t include others because we want others to feel what’s not to be included, it leads to more exclusion. When we complain about not being included, more of that shows up in our experience. When we try to be right instead of feeling good, we condition our state of being to depend on others. When we include us, we release ourselves from the need for anyone’s approval for expressing and being who we are.
“I definitely think that the inclusivity aspect [is crucial], especially [because] the show starts with what’s happening behind the camera. The writers, the producers, executive producers, the creators. We’ve had this conversation before, and I’m not going to go too much into that because it’s a whole rabbit hole. But when Austin Winsberg, who is one of the creators of the show, was first approached about doing Acapulco, he immediately knew that he had to have creators from Latin America and from Mexico to tell this story the way that is accurate. That’s when Eduardo Cisneros stepped in, who also works alongside Jason Shuman. And then they created the show. And then they brought all of these writers—from Spain, Argentina, Mexico, and the US, so it’s a very diverse writers’ room. Then when the story starts to get created, and they’re looking for the actors and building these characters, there are people who are like, ‘Wait, wait, we cannot go that route. Because this means that there’s someone looking out for what’s being put on screen.’ In my case, and with my character, was so special, and the contribution that I think that I’m making is very rare. Very, very rare to see a plus size character being this loving and comforting towards himself. Usually, plus size characters are the punchline of jokes. They always have jokes regarding their size, their weight, their relationship with foods, there’s always self-deprecating, they’re always wanting to change themselves. I grew up not having anyone to look up to because everyone that looked like me on screen was a self-deprecating sad story about someone who hated that they were fat. And with Memo, it’s different. Memo doesn’t care if his fat, he knows that he’s gorgeous, that he’s sexy, that he can be attractive, that he’s smart, that he’s capable, that he is strong, that he has a lot to offer. He doesn’t hate himself because he’s fat, he loves his body, he loves his skin, he loves what he’s putting out there. He knows his worth and his value. And I think that message is really important, especially in the Latino community. Because unfortunately, in Latin America, we still have a lot of issues when it comes to colorism, size, and body image. People need to embrace everyone: just because I’m fat doesn’t mean that I cannot fall in love and [am] unworthy in this world. I’m still a human, I have feelings, and I have dreams and I have objectives. And my body is not going to stop me from enjoying those things and accomplish them. Trust me. So, when it comes to Memo, that’s my contribution, showcasing that my body, it’s not something that’s going to stop me if anything, but it’s going to make me fly higher,” Fernando says about inclusion.
When we want to know how far we are stretching our dreams, we can ask ourselves, “What’s the most outrageous desire I can imagine for me now?” Imagination is a powerful tool that allows us to feel our desire into being. About his current dream, Ferando shares, “Honestly, I don’t know how outrageous this is, but to me it’s, because it will be something a little bit out of my comfort zone, but that I’ve always dreamed about. And that’s to release my own music. For the last few years, I’ve been writing a couple songs. And I’ve been coming up with this sort of, not concept album, but this album that does encompass a whole storyline. And I would love to make visuals for it. And of course, the visuals will be very campy and over the top and whatnot. I am on a lot of planes this year, and every time, I’m constantly editing my lyrics or working through in my mind, how is it that I would love to put this project together, which is hopefully something that I can embark on next year. I feel it would be kind of fun because I don’t think people would expect to hear or see what I’ve envisioned.”
Every belief follows the choice that we at one time made true for us, practiced, embodied, and inevitably experienced. By recognizing that the perception of our outer reality is connected to what we believe that to be, then we can consciously make the decision to shift, change, and transmute any belief into the belief we believe feels good for us.
“My favorite aspect about myself is that I like to take risks and enjoy life to the max in whatever that means for me. I feel like living life to the maximum is different for everybody. For me, I know that I’m living life to the fullest because I’m doing what I love. I’m sending messages that I love. I’m creating art and making people happy. That’s for me living a fulfilling life. I’m living my imprint in this world. There had to be a lot of self-love, self-confidence and self-knowing your self-worth, and knowing that, you have to believe in yourself. So, I think I would like more people to believe in themselves. It’s not easy to go against the odds. It hasn’t been easy. I often get to see people who are just too afraid of taking risks because they don’t think they’re capable of making their dreams come true. And that’s the biggest message that I want to send. Dreams are possible realities, period. But you have to be in control of that. I want to see more people believe in themselves and taking those risks and becoming aware that ‘No, it’s not the end of our road. It’s the beginning of 1,000 possibilities.”
Like Fernando, are you aware of your limitless creative powers to be, do, and have anything you choose to want?
Photography // Bonnie Nichoalds