About Me — Tiana
A 20-something telling stories of my experience navigating being an adult for the first time while going through the woes of life.
I had always been a pretty quiet kid, not much to say but a whole lot of thoughts running rampant in my mind and an imagination 24-year-old me could only dream of today. Back in my childhood I read a lot more than I do now and I could probably do better with that, but that’s not the point of this.
The point is my love for reading fueled all of the daydreams and stories I would make up in my head. I could travel anywhere and become anything through these stories, I would place myself in the narrator’s shoes and explore. I could say with confidence that reading played a huge part in the writer I am today.
My first creative writing piece I ever wrote was a story about a girl who was abducted from her house by aliens. I wrote that piece in the third grade and for some reason, I never forgot it.
My second significant run-in with writing was in the sixth grade after reading a book called The Skin I’m In by Sharon G Flake. My teacher assigned us to create a poetry book as a project for this book. Which to me was better than any average book report.
A couple of years later in eighth grade my English teacher would task the class with creating poems for a make-shift poetry slam. She would have us co-present our poems against classmates as an assignment. My poem was about the feeling and experience of being at a block party, or what I assumed a block party would be in my 13-year-old mind. My classmates were completely enamored with my words. My poem received what in my mind was a standing ovation but was realistically a sea of 12–13 year old peers sending nods of approval and occasional yelp of support and interest. It was this assignment and this moment that made me want to keep up with this whole writing thing.
This experience led me to attend a performing arts school and concentrate my efforts on improving my writing. During this period I learned so much about writing in its many forms and also about myself. During this time I was able to begin the process of pulling my shy, introverted self out of my comfort zone by performing my pieces and incorporating vulnerability and transparency in my writing and it only took 4 years of exploring fiction, leaving fiction, reading my poetry aloud filled with anxiety, getting laughs at serious poems or getting no reactions at all but all in all it made me a better writer. Or atleast able to take constructive and unconstructive feedback quite well.
Upon graduation from high school and entering college my writing fell by the wayside. I decided to pursue my lifelong quote-unquote dream of studying medicine as a pre-med student. I had convinced myself this was truly the path I wanted to take. However, my decision was made mostly out of fear of instability. I had been told by a teacher that writers don’t make money and coming from a low-income single-parent family that was the very last thing I wanted to put myself through on purpose. Don’t get me wrong I have enjoyed science all my life in addition to writing. However, I’ve always internally leaned more towards writing. That in itself just goes to show the power of words and how much they can impact a person’s future.
With that, I threw my true desires completely out the window and focused on the path of medicine. It was “stable ” and ensured my comfort in life at least financially I thought. I went through four years of study just to realize by year two that I didn’t want to pursue science or medicine anymore but honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, I just kept moving forward on the path that I was already on. Still writing here and there but forcing my way through a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in neuroscience and I just wasn’t happy with my choice or my path. I had gotten too deep and was afraid to transition and do something else.
It was during my master’s degree that I got more consistent with writing poetry again it was mostly inspired by a breakup but also about the journey of healing through that and also other realizations I was having at the time. I was heavily involved in the writing community within the NFT space at the time and was able to publish my pieces within one of the digital marketplaces as well as In some virtual art galleries as well. This time helped me get a piece of myself back with my writing and find a community that supported me through that process.
As of late, I have realized more than ever my desire to fully dive back into my writing and share my poetry mostly as a means of peace in my life and a safe space outside of the mundane of the day-to-day life of waking up, working a 9–5, exercising and repeating 5 days a week. Getting back into writing has added a new excitement back into my day. I Look forward to people reading my poems and interacting with other people’s work while building community. I hope you will join me on this journey of creativity
Most of my poetry focuses on
- love in all its forms
- Self reflection
- Affirmation
- And anything my mind needs to release
I have multiple pieces already on my page if you would like to give them a read I’ve added a few below.
How To Risk It All For True Love
Thank you 😊
