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Reasons Why I Wrote a Book of Poems

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Reasons Why I Wrote a Book Of Poems

Reasons Why I Wrote a Book Of Poems

I’ll just start off by saying that this is my first book. It’s a chapbook, so there won’t be a lot of pages. The maximum number of pages there will be is 43 to 44 pages with the sum of 18 poems. I say that range because I’m publishing this on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and there’s an extra page on Barnes & Noble.

The season of last summer was bittersweet for me — things just came and went. My birthday falls in July… another year of life that’s worth celebrating, meanwhile my Uncle’s in the hospital fighting for his with Cancer. Even while I took the week off to celebrate my birthday, it was hard to ignore the fact that this may be it for my Uncle; I didn’t know when, I just knew it would come, and four days after my birthday, he passed away. It seemed to be the finale of that week with my birthday.

Death puts things into perspective. Last year, especially during the summer, I was trying to find myself creative wise. I attempted to practice playing the keyboards (still an ongoing process), painted, sketched, began doing pottery, started singing again, and writing short stories that eventually turned into poetry. 

Growing up, I was always fond of poetry. I just didn’t know how to write it. It gets a bad rap for being a snobby form of creative writing, with the stereotype of having to bring a dictionary to look up fancy words hard to pronounce and intimidate many. Also, there’s that stereotype of having to rhyme per sentence and paragraph, which is beyond false. Some of the best and most notable poets barely rhymed in their poems (Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, etc.). The misconception of feeling out of place for the reader, creates the imposter syndrome not appealing to the general crowd. However, through trauma, I finally got it.

All these pent-up frustrations of why I made it feel as if I couldn’t breathe. Anxiety’s a bitch for real. There were times where I felt like I couldn’t breathe, over hyperventilating, other times it was just pure worrying. I’d worry about when and where I would have the seizure. Would it be at work? At home? While I’m out for a run, or worst event full of people? A concert, the movies, crossing the street? What about at the groceries? It was no longer me being afraid of the nocturnal seizures that I’ve had before. All thoughts let to my demise. Just trying to navigate this change in my life has been an uphill battle. Most days are good. I release the frustrations through journaling, being outdoors, going for a run, laughing, spending time with family and friends, and just being creative, but I felt mad and sad.

So, with the evolution of my writing, I journaled. The journaling inspired me to write short stories… specifically horror themed stories, in which led to writing poems. I know that’s an ironic order— from horror short stories to poems, but this was the case I couldn’t control the journey.

I didn’t want to just start off by the struggles of being black, because we all know that struggle. Despite it, I wanted to state the message of the struggles of mental health, having an invisible disability, being a woman while being black. It was a message that we’re human and we struggle too.

I’m 90 percent finished with this book. I have the cover-page; I’ve reedited the manuscript while cutting down several poems (from 30 to 18 poems). The colour theme of the cover page will be purple, which is the colour to bring awareness on Epilepsy.

Creatively, there’s joy in expressing the trauma. Overall, my life has not been an easy journey besides this condition, but I’ve always pushed forward. Poems are not about fancy words and rhyming per sentence and paragraph, it’s about painting words to a canvas creating a mental picture, in formation to any aesthetic you want in whatever rhythm you’d like.

I’m not even sure how good the poems are, but this risk is something I need to do for myself to feed into my goal of publishing a book, in my own terms and creative control. I’m not expecting this to sell a million copies (although the money would help and I’d welcome it greatly), but I hope it reaches someone who’s struggling with whatever. Because that’s the whole point:

 The writer connecting with the reader.

The name of my book: The Lover’s Pool (Out June 14th)

Update on The Publishing

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So I’ve started putting together the poems that I’ve written, placing them in a cohesive order. Just getting in the moment of organizing the pieces of work has been quite enjoyable, but there have been certain aspects that are less to be desired. The first thing is a formation on certain companies that assist with self publishing. Before I list where I’ll be conducting my work, I think it’s best that I discuss the work that I’m writing about. Foremost, my poems are all in interpretation. That’s the main thing, and this is what I’ve enjoyed overall in this project. 

The subjects that I’ll be covering is:

Self-Love

Self-love will be the main topic, I don’t think that this topic will ever tire out, because as cliche as it may sound (not to me), we all need to love ourselves first, before anyone else. So many of us have different ways of how we can do this while also sharing our unique experiences. For me, I not only had to look within myself on my experiences, but also listen to the surrounding people. It’s all in a combination of experiences, mended in a pot of art therapy for me.

Mental Health

Self-love and mental health are twins in a family, but sometimes this is often ignored. It’s never a tiring subject, nor does it make anyone weak. It takes a lot of bravery to speak about the experiences, heartbreaks, and the wins that we experience. Part of why I included this topic was because of my diagnosis with Epilepsy and also the Pandemic.

Love

Love can be romantic, but also having love for family, friends, a pet… etc. I also put myself in a space of thought about who I’d react to certain things and feelings. It’s a scary thing to be vulnerable no matter what. To show that part of yourself to anyone, including family, can be daunting yet rewarding. But first you have to look within yourself first before opening up to anyone else… because of the self-acceptance.

Identity

Everyone is something unique about them. For me, this is something that I wanted to explore, and share my experience, as a black woman, and someone who now has an invisible disability. This topic is based on what I’ve been through as a child, a teenager and now. It’s not necessarily to point specific fingers to one person, but as a collective… especially with society and the media. It’s also a sum of the other topics blended in together. Think of it as a dash of self-love, the focus or mental health, and loving others as the ingredients, identity as the equation… the cake of it all.

I don’t know if this will reach any audience, yet alone a large one, and I don’t care. All that I know is that at the end of this project, I will feel proud of myself for doing it. I believe in my work. I’m not sure how everyone will view it or critique it, but I’ve done a lot of critiquing myself, so I’m ready to put it out there. It’s also quite daunting and surreal at the same time. It may just get an audience from my family and friends, and I’ll be fine with that. But there is the possibility that it could reach to some sort of another target… who knows? Overall, I’ll be happy with whatever. No matter what, if it reaches one person who is positively affected by my work, that’s the main reward for me.

The Power of Being Bald

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Now before I start about this topic, I will state that this is not a dig to those who chose to style their hair in any particular way:

I am just speaking to encourage women to go outside the standards of beauty. A lot of us are scared to do just that because we care what other people think, more so if you are a women. Being beautiful sometimes is the only ideal of being a woman especially of colour. What is usually attached to beauty?

Our hair.

Yes, I have no hair, right now I am bald because that was my choice, but some don’t have that privilege in making a decision that may seem minuscule to some, and a big deal to others.

Articles on being a bald women (or female identifying) are slim to none, majority of the time it is usually actresses cutting of their tresses all in part for a movie which means that this is all temporary, a trend that at times prove that women will go back to the long flowing hair eventually because it is not normal to have no hair. You see we to an extent, look up to celebrities (I try to steer clear from trends), especially when younger. I can speak to being a little girl and only seeing commercials of women who didn’t look like me, or seeing the typical token black girl who usually adorned a wig that was long, flowing, straight to the bone, no curls to arise. She was usually ‘sassy’, loud, had no back story, not the main character in a major film screen, and basically had no depth to her character whatsoever, just a stereotype. But I always observed the hair because I knew for a fact that it did not resemble mine.

I can go on and on about blaming society in particular for how black women are viewed, but sometimes it becomes ingrained in some, not all… of our conscience.  We worry whether or not we will get that job based on our looks, and yes it is important to look the part ( I can’t stress that enough), but when you go against the grain of what beauty looks like… that can be daunting.

When you cut off your hair, this is a process, externally and internally. Yes, you have literally have nothing to hide but your face, but you are cutting off way more then just hair. There is baggage where all that hair came from. From the time you are just a kid to becoming a young adult, the baggage women carry in terms of attaining beauty standards become enormous and ridiculous at times. We all fall into that trap whether we want to admit that, whether we like it… or not. The constant need to looking a certain way because this is the way it should be can be detrimental to anyone’s self esteem. So yes I do believe that shaving off your hair can be brave but to an extent.

Are you brave enough to maintain the look? Even when you get the questionable stares, creeps who have bald fetishes or older women who will put you down and ask why you are still bald when they don’t even know you well enough… can you handle that? Kids will stare at you, that is in their nature and you can’t blame them, they are sponges that will absorb anything. Or if a guy tells you that he likes his women with hair, or even requests that you grow your hair back because again this is to appease him and his own insecurity… can you handle that? Can you even handle going into a barber shop with a bunch of men there while you’re the only woman in the whole shop?

I know some can’t.

But I also know that all above those ignorant comments, there are people who will admire you for the look, including older women. I point this out because there has always been a stigma surrounding bald women. The standards of beauty has been around for years, decades, centuries and beyond that. I don’t even get offended when someone states that they can never shave off their hair because I have been in that position, I usually ask them why they feel such a way and I encourage them to just do it. A lot will say it’s because their head it not as smooth, or that they are not pretty enough which breaks my heart when I hear that. Again… beauty always comes to surface. I love a good compliment on my look, what women doesn’t like being called beautiful? But, I will never understand when women for example, will call you beautiful for having no hair, then put themselves down at the same time. I will never get that, this is one of the reasons why I am writing this post. If you want to cut it all off, all the baggage, all of the bullshit attached to what a woman should look like, I say go for it. Yes, some people who you don’t even know will ask you if you have Cancer, or if you are a Lesbian (nothing wrong with this), hate men, shaved it for Cancer awareness (which is a great cause) or trying to look like Eve of Amber Rose.  Some can’t picture a woman cutting their hair just for the reason that they wanted to do it. That’s on them. People who judge you for being different in whatever way will say horrible things to you because they are shedding their insecurities on you, not the other way around…remember that.

Being a bald woman will intimidate some, weed out all of the haters and attract the right people in your life. If that manager didn’t want to hire you for a position based on you being a baldie, well it’s their loss and why on earth would you want to work for an organization that discriminates a person based on their appearance? On that note, when you are bald (both men and women), you are as groomed as one can be… clean cut. So I will never understand to whole double standards towards a woman’s appearance compared to a man’s. Being a bald women will encourage other women to do it, or to just be themselves because in itself if a hard feature. We as women need to encourage and uplift other women… period. You never know who you will inspire, it could just be that woman who was going through chemo, ready to come out to her family and friends, or the one who is scared of what her husband might say about her new look, or even men will be inspired by this.  Some just can’t grow their hair out, which is Alopecia, I just can’t imagine that frustration.

You see, there is power in the baldness of a woman. The power in not giving shit on what others think about you. The power of being yourself knowing that you matter in this world. The power to uplift, inspire and encourage. The power to question what is beautiful and challenge that notion that one standard is the standard of all standards, well that is courage.

That’s the power of being bald.

My Trip To Malta and Amsterdam

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Some things never come in to plan as one may expect.This trip was no different. When we flew from the Toronto Pearson Airport the night before arriving to Amsterdam, our light was delayed by 45 minutes. Okay, no big deal, these things happen almost all the time for flights. So we arrive the Saturday morning with a few delays with the plane, so long story short, we missed our flight to Malta. At first I was not happy, but there was a sense that all would work out fine in terms of the trip, and it did, Amsterdam became an addition to the trip in an unexpected but adventurous way.

Amsterdam:

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As most know, Amsterdam, is a very liberal city, with multiple cultures combined, their love of bikes and public transportation, and of course the world famous red light district ( you are not allowed to take pictures of the workers for obvious reasons), the city is full of intrigue while the night becomes alive with tourists around the world.Now while Amsterdam is known for their wild, liberal spirit in the Dutch air, Malta is more traditional.

Amsterdam

Malta:

Just located between Sicily and Tunisia (North Africa), Malta is what I call a hidden gem. Out of all the countries I’ve visited, it is understandable why people ask… why Malta? Where is Malta?I’ll tell you why.This small Mediterranean island in Europe has a lot of interesting history. Now to start, the Maltese language is a mixture of Arabic, Italian and English. Malta was once ruled by all three of these cultures which explain the influence. The island’s two official languages are Maltese and English, while Italian is spoken in a conversational tone. Like any period in history, particularly in World War Two, a turn of events occurred and the British ruled the country until their independence. The Catholic religion is predominant in Malta. Everywhere you go, you see a church as being Catholic is of huge importance there.

Near The Island of Comino
Blue Lagoon
Blue Lagoon

Malta is a place not just for worship, but also somewhere to just get away and explore the scene as it is truly a sight for sore eyes. The Blue Lagoon is beyond what you see in pictures, plus it is no wonder why Hollywood loves filming in places like this. You never see water this blue, clear and serene, it’s a bucket list you never knew you needed to accomplish. Just beyond anything and it brings shock to see such a picturesque place, almost like a painting.

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Blue Grotto

Being on a little boat can be both terrifying and exciting, while the water can bring a sense of peace. The caves of Blue Grotto is unlike anything that I have seen. For any traveler, it gives you the reasons as to why we love… traveling because you don’t see stuff like this anywhere. You explore and you watch in wonder. Blue Grotto is a place for the divers and swimmers alike who want to do just that, explore.

The Food:

Like anywhere you go, there is always a staple food or drink. Now the standouts in this island for food would be their pies and pastries. Malta had this cheese pie that was addictive you really don’t need to know the calories in a pie. And Kinnie is soft drink you should at least try once as it is acquired, but refreshing.20190601_090011.jpgWhen you talk about island hopping from Malta, there is Comino which only has a population of three people including a cop, and Gozo, where Game of Thrones was filmed (not the reason why I went), your trip will be fulfilled.So when someone asks you why Malta instead of the more popular places like Barcelona, Paris or Rome… now you know the big charm of little Malta.

Valetta

How I Prepare For My Trips Abroad

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Ah it’s that time of year again… vacation time!

So if this is the first time you are reading my blog, I can’t stress how much I love to travel. Within five years, having ventured to nine countries, commuting to three continents, it’s pretty safe to say that I am a world traveler. As many adventurists know, once you get stung by the traveling bug you just cannot stop. I know that I have many more countries to explore, sightsee, and just be present in my surroundings along with experiencing a different culture.

This month I will be going on another adventure, once more. But before I disclose where I will be traveling (discreetly since more information will be disclosed when I come back), here are some ways that I prepare for my vacation.

 

 

1. Doing My Research

Doing research to any country where you may be a foreigner to is crucial for numerous reasons. If for any reasons that may require you to cancel your trip, prepare for the worst in terms of safety, poisonous insects and viruses that require vaccinations, or a water crisis (like the time I traveled to South Africa last year in April which was the height of the crisis), you need to be aware of what’s going on for the proper precautions taken. I can’t stress this enough about the importance of doing your homework.

2. Checking To See If Your Passport Needs To Be Updated

Trust me on this, you don’t want to already be commuting to the airport to a country that requires your passport to be valid within 6 months before expiration when yours expires in just a month. The security won’t have it and you will have 2 options that will not benefit you at all (one being paying a fine and two to not fly). So this is another reason as to why doing your proper research will benefit you in the long run. Different countries within different continents have different rules on the expiration date on a passport. I can’t stress this enough.

3. Getting The Best Sleep The Day Before

Because you may not get any sleep at all on the plane if you are like me. Plus once you enter the airport, if you haven’t yet… get your boarding pass, check in your luggage, and my least favourite activity, do a security check up which can include taking your shoes off. This is why there’s a requirement to show up at least three hours before the departure.

4. Jogging

I had to add this in since I love running. Pretty much before any trip, a good workout will energize you that results (may or may not in my case) in possibly sleeping on a plane.  Also there are endorphins released resulting in good moods hence since you will be on an adventure so why be mad? Plus you are doing a lot of walking especially on a layover when you arrive in one country for let’s say an hour, flying to another.

5. Drinking Plenty Water

As we all are aware of the amazing benefits of water. Another addition to the proof of benefits is the fact that drinking water before, during and after a plain ride may help improve any sort of jet lag. So drinking alcohol will not help your situation if you are trying to avoid the dreaded jet lag.

 

6. Packing Not Too Much Clothes

For reasons that include not breaking the bank when you have to pay extra if your luggage weighs more than the requirement, or it’s just too damn heavy to drag along, you want to be comfortable when heading from one place to another. Half the time you are not even wearing all of you clothes.

 

7.  Packing Enough Undergarments

You can never have enough underwear, bras, panties… you name it. This is crucial and I don’t even need to explain. Also other aspects of hygiene are applicable to this including lotion, deodorant, dentil floss, a tooth brush and mouth wash. No one wants to be around someone who does not take care of themselves… just saying.

 

8. Eating A Well Balanced Diet When Flying At Night

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, no words could be any truer. Plus a nutritious meal on a whole will benefit you in ways like for example your head. Flying thousands of feet up in the air will take a toll on you, and not eating at all will make you feel lightheaded. Don’t do that! Eat away.

 

9. Listening To All The Staff Members In The Airport and Airplane

I just think it would be stupid for you to do the opposite. It may cause you your trip.

 

10. Being Friendly/Cooperative Passenger To The Person Beside/Behind/In Front of You

Especially when you have to travel longs hours on a plane, being friendly to everyone without being annoying just makes life easier on a whole for everyone. Don’t be that person who has their stretched all the way to the back when someone behind you is pretty much suffocating, or taking up space when not necessary. I know claustrophobia is a real thing and this is also not fun to experience.

 

11. Where Comfy Clothes

Since going on an excursion requires time and effort, both mental and physical, being in breathable clothing is a must. This also goes for shoes as well. I know some people are all about following their favourite celebrities like Kylie and Kendal, and that’s cool, be Instagram ready, I love fashion and having a look so rock your style in breathable clothing. This is just my suggestion based on my experience with traveling. Doing 30 hours in total of traveling takes a toll on your body. It’s your choice though.

12. Buy Travel Medical Insurance

It does not matter how old you are. Whether you are in your 20’s or 100 years old, please do yourself a favour and buy the travel medical insurance. You never, I repeat, never know when you may need this to come in handy. Health is wealth… you will be doing yourself a huge favour.

13. Taking It All In

Just take in everything… yes I mean EVERYTHING. Because like many major events in life, like planning a wedding, a graduation or even a monumental birthday. The preparation for any milestones are part of the milestone. So just take it all in and with stride because you will get to where you need to be eventually.

So off I go on my next adventure!

Next stop… Malta.

Quiet

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Is it wrong to be who you are even when you’re quiet?

Nah:

—-This is a famous quote said from the fellow introvert and inspiring Activist Rosa Parks who spoke up against the injustice of what may seem like a simple act of sitting in front of the bus.

Not too long ago, I was reminded, yet again, of my mysterious/reserved personality, like as if it were a weakness or even a burden.

Like myself, I am certain all people who are considered introverted, quiet or reserved will relate to the fact that this aspect of your personality has been pointed out to you your whole life. From report cards, to workplaces and social settings, the ‘quiet’ label invisibly hangs on your neck like an unwanted shackle weighing the neck down with a feeling of automatic judgement piercing from strangers and at times family.

Time and time again… I am here to prove that being quiet is not a burden, weakness or a negative aspect to one’s personality if this is who you are as a person. Now I am not talking against the more loud and boisterous group of people, I can be pretty loud myself, but there is just a bit of a stigma against the opposite.  Right now as I am typing these words to this blog post, I am being quiet. Here are the benefits of being quiet in a world that tells you to fit in.

 

1.  You Listen Better

I think this is pretty self explanatory, great listeners are ones who have the ability to hear other people talk, therefore being great listeners.

2.  Creative

Have you ever heard of a quiet voice equals a loud mind? There’s a reason for that. The list of famous introverted artists, writers, musicians and directors are endless…. ask J.K. Rowling.

 

3.  You Think Before Talking

This can coincide with being able to listen. You think before acting.

4. Independent 

A lot of introverts are generally loners, but not alone. For me that is my way of needed solitude to recharge and get lost into whatever makes me feel whole.

 

5. Quiet Confidence

This is a fact, no explanation needed. Think Beyonce….

6. Have a Voice

No need to explain, so I will show you better than I can tell you:

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— The list is endless. This is just a few famous people who happen to be an introvert.

Now next time someone wants to bring up your quietness in any negative way, keep your head held up high and tell them that this is who you are and there is nothing wrong with that.

We run the world too, just quietly.

 

Finding My Way

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Where do I start?

I guess that’s the struggle when I haven’t written a blog post in almost 10 months. There’s a sense of urgency to write but yet a hesitation to compose anything because the sense and worry that you (or me in particular) have nothing meaningful to even put in words. It’s like for me, I felt as though my hesitation was due in part that I needed to write something not only worthwhile, but conduct some Picasso-like poetic justice of a blog post.

Now when you look at the title above, Finding My Way, some of you (or if anyone), are probably thinking that this particular post is about me being lost, having some sort of crisis (I will be turning 30 soon), or a life changing event has occurred… it hasn’t. What has happened is: panic.

Not the type of panicking where anxiety rushes through your rapid heart beat or cold sweat reaping through your pores. Nope. This is a panic where uncertainty of life is prevalent. But this excites me. I know conflicting as it may sound, I am not worried about not knowing the answers, but I am, finding my way.

For me, as I have written numerous times, writing is a big part of who I am whether it pays or does not. And for 10 months, I’ve been pondering and pondering why I was not posting anything on my blog for that span of time.

The truth is, I did not have anything to talk about.

As the time went by, it got harder to think of anything to write. I was almost about to quit this blog to be quite frank. But every time I was going to come up with a goodbye article, I couldn’t find the words. It was more than just a writer’s block because I was writing other formats that did not really appeal to me, but a rush of a feeling of unfinished business.

The sole purpose of this blog was for me to escape into a hobby that has been a healthy coping mechanism on my darkest days up until the brightest. It was and still is the beginning middle and end, the highs and lows that life itself brings. Initially this blog was supposed to be about my love for fashion but in my words with an editorial aspect to the article I learned in school, but here I am, almost three years later, on what is the 55th blog post, talking about finding my way. Go figure.  From what felt like the nightmare at times not finding the right words to type on the screen, this is also what needed to happen in order to free my mind, while knowing that my heart, soul and being missed this blog and my love of this sort of writing. This right here is my return.

So for those who have asked me in the recent how my writing is, I will tell you simply, it’s going… meaning that it is never over for me. I am 28, almost about to turn 29, almost about to head into a new decade, but smart enough to know that I am still young. Young enough to know that there is room for improvement. More room for self expression within any form of writing that I conduct. More room for me to not be too hard on myself and sometimes, a good friend of mine has told me, to just go with the flow.

That’s the beauty in creativity and… ambiguity of life.

Let’s welcome more of that.

I know I will be.

 

4 Things That Are Different Without Using Social Media

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So it’s been exactly 23 days since I’ve deleted most of my social media accounts. Time just seems to fly. I have noticed a few changes, some that are obvious, some that aren’t. With this being said, I will keep this blog post as brief as possible since this anti social media journey has only started three weeks ago, I will will keep tabs on how this journey is going. Here are three things that I have noticed that is different without using the media platform.

 

1. Less Urgency To Check My Phone In The Morning

Pretty much every morning I had to check my instagram to see if there were any updates on anyone including celebrities, plus it was something to do before heading to work. This routine at times did waste a lot of time… almost to the point where it got too much in the way of errands I had to do.

 

 

2. More Hobbies

With hobbies, I get to focus on the things that I love doing whether it be more reading, more jogging or anything else that comes to mind. Plus I get to see what choice of travel is on the horizon within the few months or next year… we will see.

 

3. More Contemplating

This may seem like an obvious point, but my mind has been cleared from all of the social media life, therefore making me be more aware of myself in terms of life in general. Where I’m at. Where I want to be, and how I will get there. Also not putting up with any nonsense from anyone… knowing that my self worth is not devalued or taken a notch down by anyone.

 

4. Happier

Knowing that I am not in the loop with other people’s life events has been ironically more fulfilling for me. It was nice to see what people were up to, but the constant need to be in the loop of that along with depressing news was a constant downer, now I don’t have to worry about this anymore. Also posting pictures, statuses and anything else: just waiting for likes and comments, I no longer have to worry about updating my profile.

Reasons Why I Write

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No matter where I go on a career level, writing is my first passion.

Like many who write, this is more then just a hobby: it’s a calling.

— There’s power behind this creative adventure.

Due to that fact, many who orchestrate letters on either a blank page, on their laptop screens( which is what I call a blank canvas), it takes many years to believe in your work, or to even call yourself a writer. In the traditional sense, it’s believed that you need to be getting paid in order to someone that contributes as any form of writing.

This is not true at all.

As someone who not only started writing at eight years old, along with going to school in order to hone my skills as a writer, journalist, songwriter, script writer, and of course a blogger, I went through a ton of constructive criticism from professors and peers alike. We as writers become very sensitive of our work because we are just that… sensitive. Creative people tend to take things personal when coming to the work that we produce. Plus I’ve earned my diploma so yes I can call myself a writer.

Are you someone who writes on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis about anything? Then you are a writer my dear. As they say, practice makes perfect. Here are reasons to why I write.

1. To Inspire Others

As a blogger, you never know who’s life you may be affecting. When you put your work out in the public, it’s open for anyone (worldwide) to see something that may help to inspire then with anything. Words have meaning behind them. Having this blog on WordPress has helped me take a look at who is reading my articles from around the world which is pretty cool. I see you South Africa, Australia, Ireland, India, Brazil, Greece, Malaysia, Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S.A., Kenya, Switzerland, Netherlands, England, Jamaica, Nigeria and of course Canada along with my Trini family in the small island of Trinidad and Tobago. It’s pretty cool seeing these stats.

2. To Be Inspired

Whether I’m reading a novel that prompts me to write or come up with a story, or one of my cousins just messaged me telling me how they loved my last blog post, I find inspiration anywhere.

3. Therapy

We all need this. Therapy comes in many forms, for me writing is at the top of the list aside from jogging and music. With therapy equates to meditation… writing keeps my mind off anything disruptive or stress induced situations. Being creative is good for the soul. We as human beings are creative. If you are making a meal, doing pottery, making a table etc. you are being creative. This is an important aspect to maintain because being inventive, innovative or productive infuses a spark in people which give us purpose.

4. Practice

I’ve said this before many times that the more you practice on a skill, the better you become at it. In today’s age living in a technology era, we want everything fast… yesterday, so we’ve become impatient on pretty much anything. If you want something really badly, whether it being something big or small, you practice in order to improve. You can’t just start at A, not putting in the work and expect to move all the way to Z. This is not how things work! With my writing in school, I’ve had to really look at what I needed to do in order to improve, fight for and work on with this skill. Practice… practice… practice!

5. The Evolution

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Hammer Style Girl has been around for almost two years. My topics starting out with this blog, strictly dealt with fashion, then I started writing about celebrities, more so musicians, afterwards it was really anything that came to mind. The beauty about writing is that your writing can evolve into something completely different because this is a journey. For me this blog helps me to stay true to my beliefs, whether the topics are on fashion, race, feminism, money, hair journeys, music, a little bit of politics (very little) and of course traveling… the possibilities are endless. Plus it would be boring to always write about the same old topics. My writing reflects not only where I’m at in life, but how I’m feeling at that time.

So if you are a writer… get to it!

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