People We've Met: Danielle
by Anjelica Jardiel
Sometimes you meet someone and you’re at equal but opposite crossroads. Danielle Burgess and I met in New York City through mutual friends and decided to spend a day together when we were both in Los Angeles. She had just started to make a home for herself there, and I was helping my mother move from my childhood home. Over time, this shoot became about going through changes and synchronicity. In our separate but equal transformations, we were fortunate enough to cross paths. This is Danielle, new in town, photographed as I'm leaving town.
Name: Danielle Burgess
Age: 26
Occupation: Actress, Model
Tell us about your hometown.
I was born in New Braunfels, a town between Austin and San Antonio in South Texas. I spent the rest of my time at home between Oklahoma and Texas.
Where do you live now?
I have just recently moved to Los Angeles. It’s so magical, falling in love with a new city—like the right lover, it’s all new, but you feel as if you’ve known it all along at the same time.
What are you currently doing with your life?
I am an actress. That’s my primary pursuit at the moment. I model from time to time as well. I write, and am currently working on a poetry book and a few scripts. I also sing, play, and write music. I was a dancer growing up, and still take class—it feeds me, it feels so fucking good to express so fully! My newest (and most expensive) hobby is film photography. I love to paint and draw, it’s super therapeutic. I have the tendency to try to make everything into a “career”. I struggle with perfectionist tendencies—as many of us do— and have this idea I have to be the best at everything. I’m working on releasing that as much as I can. That pursuit of perfection blocks the joy of it, the pleasure of the process. So it’s finding the balance. Striving to push myself, reaching towards a certain standard, but remembering everything can really just be fun too.
What inspires you and makes you feel?
I feel that click when a new, bigger perspective comes into focus. Especially when it’s a very tangible sensation in my body—sensation drives me. Magic, kismet, synchronicity—those moments that affirm the feeling that I’m in the right place at the right time. I love spending time with people I love, meeting new people, having really meaningful and challenging conversations, feeling open and present with others, and creating with like-minded people.
What has been your biggest victory?
I like to think of life as a series of small victories that add up. Any time I am able to break a pattern or cycle, make a new choice, a conscious one rather than a reactive one, that’s the biggest victory to me.
What's your favorite place in the world you've been?
England and Ireland. The veil feels very thin there.
Where are you dying to go?
Everywhere! Really, as soon as I start to plan a trip somewhere, I get distracted and end up researching about 15 other places. I’ve always kept extensive lists of countries, and all the cities and towns within them I want to visit.
What do you think the world needs now more than ever?
Love. Consciousness. Tolerance. Compassion. For others, and for ourselves too. There’s a lot to say on the subject, but I think it is that simple in a way.
What are you most grateful for?
The present. The past that has led me to the present. The promise of the future. The many beautiful, loving, inspiring people I know. The infinite possibilities of experience in the world.
What is "beauty" to you?
There are so many incarnations of it. I am a lover of things glamorous, sensual, and pleasurable. I’m a big proponent of creature comforts, But beauty really is all about perspective. Anything can be beautiful if you look at it from the right angle.
What do you say to yourself to stay optimistic and encouraged?
I remind myself to breathe, to drink water, and that this, too, shall pass.
Makeup: Daphne Chantell Del Rosario
Vintage Clothing: My Grandma's Closet