Trinity Chanel moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. She battled isolation, loneliness and pressure to compromise her moral beliefs. God led her on a journey that returned her home at just the right time for a “hard reset” that changed everything.
Transcription
Welcome to Brought Back to Life, a podcast where we explore how Jesus changes everything.
Trinity Chanel:
My name is Trinity Chanel and I was brought back to life when I moved home from Los Angeles for a hard reset. My story begins when I was little. I was born and raised in the church, grew up in the church, went to private Christian schools my entire life. I was a King’s kid here on the CRISTA campus, and I had an amazing upbringing, an amazing foundation with Christ and a relationship with Jesus. And I was a performing artist, and I decided when I was in high school, I wanted to move to L.A. I had previously gone back and forth between Los Angeles and Seattle for acting and modeling when I was a child. And my mom wanted me to go to a traditional high school, traditional university if I wanted to. So I kind of chose that route, because it’s what was suggested and desired by my parents and me as well.
And once I had the opportunity to go back to L.A., I jumped on it and I was super excited. I was going back down there. I was going to be an actress and pursue that, and I was ready. And I thought I was totally prepared. I had great parents that assisted me and guided me. And like I said, I had an amazing relationship with God. And of course you go through your ups and downs throughout life, but nothing that really took me far away. But when I moved down there, I realized how chaotic and horrible and just dirty it is. And people say that Vegas is Sin City, but in reality, L.A. is far worse. And it is so covered up by all the diamonds and the fame and fortune and the fun parts of it. But underneath it, it is a whole layer of disgusting filth that just totally can compromise someone’s morals and values.
And I’m grateful it didn’t with mine, however, it does play a role in my life because you do hit a point when you’re down there to think about, “Well, what if I don’t get that job?”` And, “Oh, that girl got that job because she did those things.” And then you get to a point where you sit there and you’re like, “Well, am I going to compromise my own morals and values, to get that job, to get that fame, to get that success, or to achieve a goal or to get a role.” And you just kind of have to sit and go, “Well.” As cliche as it sounds, “What would Jesus do? And would Jesus do those things?” And so through my time down there, I realized I wasn’t quite ready to get back in front of the camera again. I had graduated school. I went to the University of Washington, and then I had moved back to Los Angeles right after that.
I had gone through quite an amazing time here in Seattle. I was a Seattle Sea Gal through college. I got to work a lot of amazing job opportunities up here in Seattle and was ready to go back down there. I had a fresh mindset and was ready to leave some of my baggage in the past that I had gone through while I was in university. And I went down there and said, “I’m going to go behind the camera because if I go behind the camera, I can appreciate all those people that play a role when I stand in front of the camera.” Because my role is the easiest as the actress, but all the other roles that go into producing a film, a music video, commercial, whatever it may be, I want to appreciate those people. So I got down, I went through all the levels.
I was a PA, I got into sound and electric and wardrobe and hair and makeup. I did everything. I took every job that I possibly could because it’s hard to live down in L.A. It’s hard to survive. It’s hard to be financially stable. And so I did that for a while. And while I was doing that, I started to hear some rumblings. I started to see some things at parties and events that I would go to that just didn’t sit right with me. And they were … I don’t know how to explain it, but they just weren’t godly. And there’s a lot of things that aren’t. But these things that I would see go on and activities that would happen were just so far from anything I was used to. And then I started hearing some rumblings, whether it be political or socialite-wise or health wise, concerns that were going on down there.
And I just kind of got the bug that maybe it was time to go home for a hard reset. And not because I had fallen away or totally walked away from God, but the importance of me going to church every single weekend down there wasn’t there, because there was no sense of community. You have all these megachurches down there that I was a part of, that were up here, and I was super excited because there’s an L.A. campus and this is my time to have community down here in this chaos and thinking, “Oh, it won’t be that bad, but, oh well, just in case I’ll have a backup.”
And the megachurches turned to be just as corrupt as the rest of the Hollywood social life and social scene. And it was really depressing. So I felt really isolated and really alone. I didn’t have a community. I had friends that were asking me to go to different churches, but they all had the same level of Hollywood to it that I was not looking for. And so I said, “It’s time for me to move home just for a bit. I’ll be back when I’m good and ready and when I think I’ve got on the full armor of God to be able to protect myself from everything going on down there.”
Narrator:
Peace isn’t about the absence of problems, it’s about the presence of Jesus. For more go to the Faith tab at onpurposely.com.
Trinity Chanel:
So I moved home and I just got a job, here at a local restaurant and I loved it and I didn’t know what to do. Because I’m like, “I have a major, but what do you do with it?” And mine was communication. So it’s so broad, you really go, “What do I do with it?” And I was sitting at home one day and going to work on the next and all of a sudden COVID hit and I was totally unemployed. And I sat there and I’m like, “Well, God, okay, well then why did you bring me home? Why am I home? Because I have no work. I have no form of income.” But what I did realize was I was brought home right before COVID hit because I was meant to be home with my family and to be a protector, but to be a provider, and to be a supporter.
Because throughout my time in university, my family was battling something that a lot of families don’t talk about, which is addiction. And we had a member of our family, the head of our family, fall because of it, and we were totally lost. And so I now look back and in the moment I didn’t realize it, but I look back and I go, “Oh, I see the patterns of why I was meant to come home.” I thought it was because of the chaos going down there and I needed to be stronger, and I didn’t feel like I was at home. But in reality, I think it was the perfect step-by-step path that God put out for me to come home right before the world shut down. And then you’re sitting here while the world’s shut down, but at least we’re all together as a family because at the time, you couldn’t even travel out of the state of California.
You were stuck there. And I had lots of friends that couldn’t come home here to their families. And so it was a blessing. It was a blessing in disguise. And then one thing led to another, and I ended up back on CRISTA’s campus, which I was voted in high school, most likely to come back to CRISTA. And I was adamant about, “No, no, no.” I’m like, “No, I’m going to L.A. I’m going to do this. I’m going to do that.” And here I am because of one job opportunity that came up while I was scrolling, and it brought me right back here. And I am so grateful for it. But I think the moral of my story is, you think you have a path set out and you think that you’re strong enough to go through things. And I didn’t doubt that I was, but at the same time, you need a hard reset sometimes.
And listen, when a hard reset is presented, as much as you try to fight it, I did try to fight a little bit coming home, but I’m so glad I didn’t fight and turn my head away from it because there’s a purpose for me coming home. So very grateful that I came home. I’m very grateful that I work for an organization that’s so amazing, and I now get to sit here and say, “I truly have no interest in ever going back to L.A.” Because through the time of the world being shut down, so much was revealed and so many eyes were opened to what I was already experiencing on a small scale. And it blew it up like Costco size to where you go like, “Whoa, I have no interest in stepping back into that world.”
Narrator:
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