The more I go through life, the more I realize people are good at hiding who they are. I should know because I have hidden parts of myself before for the satisfaction of the people surrounding me. Every time I have hidden my truth, perspectives, or ideas; I have lost tiny parts of myself along the way. This year when I finally spoke about what I was going through in regards to my relationship, it made me realize I cannot lose more parts of myself to please the minds of others. I remember when I was sitting on the empty floor of my home, my abusive ex-boyfriend had just moved out and I wanted nothing more than to be with him, but I knew I couldn’t continue hurting myself to love someone else. I was in so much pain and I thought the only person who could take that pain away was the person who had caused me the most.

Originally, I was writing poetry to process my emotions and sort through the whirlwind of chaos that was overtaking my mind post break-up. Then, it became something more. I was experiencing memories and feelings that were disgusting, indescribable and empty which is why I wanted to help pull others out of situations like mine. I kept thinking to myself “all this pain cannot be for nothing.” I think part of it was my emotional response to loss and I was grieving the relationship; however, I think part of it was my drive to turn something hurtful into something meaningful.

I landed on the idea of starting T’s Poetry because I kept drawing from the movie “The Dead Poets Society.” During the movie, I remember a distinct scene when they were discussing the need for acceptance and Robert Williams quotes Robert Frost saying, “2 roads diverged in the wood, and I took the one less travelled by”. This sparked the idea for my book because I realized I was still prioritizing the need for acceptance. I was afraid to publicize this piece of literature due to the opinions, misconceptions and social concepts surrounding abuse but then I realized that is exactly why I needed to do it. Abusive relationships need to be talked about because we need to heal as a society. If we live in a world where sharing our stories is more shameful than the stories themselves, what kind of world do we live in? I want to be like Robert Frost, I want to be brave enough to share my story despite the one everyone else expects me to go on living. I want to take the road less travelled by so I can inspire others to do the same and I want to help others hide themselves a little less.

A percentage of each book’s profit will go towards CEDAW (The Convention on the Eliminator of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) with the hope of aiding women in our societies worldwide and helping to create a safe, healthy environment for the future generations of women.