Keep taking risks
In June it will be a year since I started blogging. I started as a way to expand past poetry and improve my writing skills. And now, it’s becoming something helpful for others and another way for me to get things off my chest. It’s almost like this is an e-diary for how I feel. I stress the importance of writing often because one of the benefits can be tracking your growth. Things can change throughout the days and it’s great to reflect on your progress so I want to use this post to do just that, track my growth.
Let’s just say that things were not in my favor this time last year. I had went through a bad mental health episode and couldn’t see past the day. The aftermath of storms leads to rainbows so I guess things were, without a doubt, always going to work out.
I had big changes coming my way. I don’t even like one, and now I was being jumped by reality. I faced difficult decisions leaving my job of three years and my parents home for the first time. On top of those changes I decided to switch career paths and follow my poetic dreams. I started booking more poetry gigs and began blogging. To be quite honest, I thought my blog would have been a bit more different than this, but hey, I’ll take it. I have certain visions for things and I get upset when it doesn’t come out the way I want, but, overall I’ve been enjoying this journey I’m on. I’ve connected with people who resonate with my words and it really is a beautiful experience when someone shares and understands your emotions. Being someone who struggles with mental health it’s hard for me to recognize my own accomplishments. Those all felt like smaller steps in a much bigger plan so it isn’t until now that I’m able to stop and truly appreciate how far I’ve come.
This was my first time hosting an open mic with Colored Colors during their art crawl. Here are the talented poets who performed that day @mtpariti @soyplantpapi @qimaginewrites @overweightanxiousanddone
One of the frequent questions I ask myself is, am I still on the right path? Some days I lose confidence and motivation to believe I can achieve the things I want. But as of lately, God has been personally letting me know, yes, I can. Within just the past week I went to Westbury High School to speak with 10th graders about my path to poetry and social work, I was offered more guest speaker opportunities, I booked a large headliner show, and was asked to collaborate with a rapper. I was also asked to facilitate writing workshops and curate a poetry event with the Babylon Arts Council.
Whew.
It was an overwhelming week, so to speak. I almost couldn’t believe all the opportunities that are coming my way. Now I think that’s confirmation I’m heading in the right direction. “The Alchemist” has a quote in their book that says
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”
—Paulo Coelho
That books has a lot of gems, so if you haven’t read it, you absolutely should. I’m a firm believer in things happen for a reason. We are put in situations and meet people at perfect timing it’s almost irrational to believe they are ‘just coincidences’.
I mentioned in my last blog that I’ve added praying to my daily routine. I talk to God and the angels I know that are watching over me and sometimes it feels like clear signs that I am heading in the right direction. I’ve been trying to make poetry writing a career for myself so it’s nice to see that things are working out in my favor.
The path you want for yourself may not always be linear, but it’s empowering and inspiring to track your progress along the way to see how far you’ve come. This is a reminder to myself and whoever else reading that if you want something bad enough all the pieces will eventually start falling together as long as you continue to believe in yourself and keep taking risks.
