ABOUT ME
If you’ve read enough of my literary works or looked at my paintings with an analytical eye, maybe you’ve found yourself wondering, “What does she know?”
Or maybe you haven’t, and I’m just putting words in your mouth. But still, considering the world we live in, I think it’s a fair question ask.
In fact, I'm glad you're asking yourself, "Who even is this?" And to be quite honest, I think it's good that you're skeptical of me.
On the surface, I’m just an average nobody from a relatively quiet city in the South. I don't think my folks would be considered "rich", but we live a very comfortable and sustained life. I have a positive relationship with my parents, I'm super close with my maternal grandparents, I have one amazing older sister, and I’m an aunt to an adorable baby boy.
Now that’s where I’ll stop.
I won’t bore you with the personal and intricate details of my life because quite frankly it’s no one’s business to know.
I pray that you develop a relationship with my art.
Not me.
There’s so many people on the internet sharing "advice", trying to tell other people how they should live their life, ridiculing others for not becoming the ideal person they believe we should all strive to be—disregarding the fact we are all different and nuance exists—and it’s truly so exhausting.
I believe the smartest person in the room is the one who can admit they know nothing, because as humans, our knowledge is genuinely finite.
No matter how much we innovate, no matter how much science we discover, no matter how advanced society becomes—we will never have the ability to know everything, and that's okay.
I believe in the infinite wonder of God, and in addition to His Holy Spirit and offering us the ultimate act of love—I know He has given us tools—talents—to make this life a bit more tolerable, and I believe mine is art.
I know this is His doing because not only does James1:17 (NIV) say: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. But additionally, if this wasn't special, everyone would have the capability to do so.
Breathing is a functional capability that we generally all perform, so there's nothing extraordinary about it. But when you hear someone sing from the depths of their belly, and it captivates you in a way not many other things can, that is a gift bestowed upon the person in question. You can't buy talent. It's something you're given at birth, and the beauty of it all is that everyone encompasses a talent or talents—you just have to discover your own.
The Lord has given me the ability to express my deepest fears, most repressed thoughts, and quietest moments both visually and linguistically.
Engaging with this talent has become a place of worship for me because it’s allowed me to confront the darkness within me, slowly heal from the inside out, and in the process give reverence to the One, true God.
Now, it is my mission to use my gifts for good.
It’s important to me that I create authentic work that tells both a story and carries a message because when I listen to other people speak, I’ve realized many of us ask the same fundamental questions: What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What’s the point of anything?
I see my work as an instrument and myself as a vessel for God’s light, and by using what He’s given me to communicate emotions based on the things I’ve observed, learned, and experienced—maybe it can help you too.
If it helps you relate to me a bit deeper or see my humanity a bit more, I met God in the dark.
In the silence.
In the moments when the days felt too heavy, and when I faced moments I never thought would happen to me.
But again, that’s where I’ll stop.
Living in the digital age has fostered an environment where relevance feels tied to full transparency. But as author of this platform, I believe you maintain your sense of self by withholding certain truths from those outside your private space.
That doesn't mean you're cold or heartless, but you find other ways to connect with people, without making yourself a posterchild for pain.
But I will be vulnerable and admit one of my deepest wounds is being misunderstood. Though, as I’ve aged, I’ve learned that possibility is inevitable.
You could tell everyone who you are, from the inside out, and people may still fail to understand you. Which makes it more imperative than ever to fully understand yourself, because it's truly no one else's responsibility to entirely bear that emotional weight for you.
And that is why my art is so important to me. It’s a place I can go, a thing I can do, a language I can speak, and there are no barriers to entry or limits on who I can be.
Nor can anyone tell me how I should feel, what I should say, or what I should create.
That freedom is what I want to share with you.
I believe I have the ability to speak the way I do because the Holy Spirit has granted me a wisdom that transcends experience and age.
Age is an indicator of physical maturity, but beneath the surface, it truly holds no weight when it comes to spiritual or mental maturity.
The Lord can use anyone!
And you don’t have to be a genius to get this, or the richest to access this information.
There are people with no academic credentials to their name, wiser and more in tune with self than any Oxford or Columbia grad will ever be.
There are people who’ve experienced abject poverty beyond my American comprehension, but yet their souls are more resourceful than any spiritually bankrupt billionaire walking this earth.
I believe the root of us all crave the same things: peace, love, freedom, and security.
Things that would've been given to us automatically in the Garden of Eden through a pure connection with God. But when sin entered the world, it cut us off from Him. We still crave these virtues because they are interwoven into the very fabric of our beings—considering in the Bible, Genesis 1:27 (NIV) says: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them—but sin disconnected us from our Creator, and now we scramble trying to find those same feelings elsewhere.
Whether it be through money, material things, sex, relationships, drugs, or even work for example.
While none of these things are not inherently "bad"—money is a very real and reliable tool we all need, material things are nice to have, sex is an enjoyable experience God Himself created to be shared within a legitimate union, relationships are the foundation of our world, work is related to productivity, and you can even argue for the positive benefits some drugs bring—they can still become consumptive, distracting, or destructive if we engage with these pursuits without discipline or emotional fortitude—allowing said actions or desires to become the dominant figureheads in our lives.
So, even without you knowing exactly who I am, those are the values I speak to. Because like you, I am human too.
And like you, I have searched for solace in places I shouldn't.
Sometimes I slip up, and I still do.
That said, I want to emphasize that we live in a world that only affirms the physical, so we let external narratives define who we are internally.
But life is layered.
I believe our identities are rooted in the internal compass that dictates our decisions, but our circumstances are not an indicator of who we become.
For example: yes, you may have trauma, but the residue left from those painful experiences does not have to define your reality.
Your circumstances and environment may determine where you start, but you have the ability to shape your life into whatever you want it to be.
Yes, our trials shape us—but they are not our identity.
And that reason alone is exactly why I feel there’s no need for me to share the nit and grit of my life.
I want you to discover who I am through my art.
Many people are awake, with a heart that beats and nostrils that quietly draw oxygen.
But not many people are alive.
To truly live, you must first master your mind, body, and soul.
The world conditions us to believe we only exist in the physical realm.
That illusion makes it's easy to mistreat ourselves and others, and justify our atrocities with tricky vernacular and half-truths.
"The first way to open the door to brutalizing people in any place is to cheapen their worth as human beings." - Zev Yaroslavsky
Because we only acknowledge the physical, we place people on pedestals.
We convince ourselves some are "luckier" than others, worthy of worship, and demean ourselves for not living up to what society praises.
And if you happen to be on the receiving end of that glory, it’s easy to form entitlement around the attributes the world champions.
Yet your personhood may be deeply bruised when life doesn’t unfold the way people said it would. Or perhaps it does, and still, a void lingers in your heart.
But the truth is: what we see is just a physical manifestation of what happens in the unseen.
Life goes much deeper than the surface.
And that is exactly why, within reason, you can be anything you want to be and you can do anything you set your mind to do.
Science is simply evidence of the spiritual!
But just because science can't find evidence of a particular substance or being, that does not mean it doesn't exist.
As humans, we are more than bodies. We are souls encapsulated within a shell.
We are interconnected beings—our bodies are our machines, operated by our minds, which are oiled by our souls.
Though one may have the ability to master all three based on what they see as their own doing; a pure, holy, and sanctified mastery of self can only be achieved through a connection with God. And a relationship with the Most High, triumphs and exceeds levels far greater than our solo attempts to reach the "higher self."
No matter how much autonomy you crave, you will only ever truly be free by handing over the reins to Him.
That’s a journey I’ve recently started myself, and I imagine it’ll last a lifetime.
I created this website because I wanted to share my work and my thoughts.
I am happy to be a product of the digital age because I know my message can reach millions of people who may never get the chance to see or hear it in person, or meet me in real life, but this website is just as important for my personal growth as well.
It’s my outlet, and it’s also a time capsule—for when I’m 60+, God willingly, and I look back on this version of myself.
By then, I hope my wisdom will have grown even deeper, and the work I create will be even better than it is now.
I hope sharing this helps you understand me better.
And if you’re someone who feels like throwing in the towel, I hope this reminds you:
Don’t give up on yourself.
Ever.