Inspirational

On March 4, 2020 I got engaged to the love of my life, Emily, and it was far from traditional, but is definitely a part of our story I’ll cherish forever. On March 4th, I was sitting on the couch in the living room and the thought of promise rings crossed my mind. I spontaneously asked Emily if she would like to get promise rings and she excitedly said yes. Our original plan was to order them from an online store but we weren’t sure of what sizes we needed so again I made the spontaneous decision to get us an Uber to take us to the mall. We went to a jewelry store and picked our rings. It was an easy decision, then from there we went to the food court. While eating dinner the topic of proposal came up. Emily said she had thought of proposing to me on our 1 year anniversary and honestly the rest is a bit of a blur because I was so happy that I had found my person. Eventually over that conversation, we decided we wanted more than a promise ring, we wanted to be engaged so we decided anxiously and excitedly, right there in the mall food court that we were engaged. This part of our story is so “us”. We are both goofy, non traditional, and love each other with our whole hearts. We are so comfortable around each other and we are the happiest we’ve ever been. I am confident that Emily is the love of my life and I will be with her for the rest of my life.

Demi Lovato has been an idol of mine for quite some time now. I love her music but I also love what she stands for. Her recent single “I Love Me” came out on Friday March 6, 2020 and it speaks volumes to how people, myself included, can come out of dark times stronger than before. I strongly believe everything happens for a reason and although life can throw curve balls that don’t make sense in the moment, in my experience those curve balls eventually make sense later on. Demi Lovato is a strong individual; her new single represents parts of her past and the compassion she has for herself now. In the music video below, there is a part where Demi gently touches a girl being put into an ambulance. This clearly represents her recent struggle with a relapse and then overdose. Addiction can take so much away, but Demi is showing that she has come back stronger. This brings me happiness because Demi to me is an incredible roll model, she is real and represents that our struggles can help us grow.

I began writing poetry at age 16 when I was newly diagnosed with major depressive disorder and Anorexia. At this time of my life I was struggling with identity and sexuality. I was wrestling with my thoughts on a daily basis and was convinced I would be dead by the time I was 21. I was suicidal and struggling to know how to live life. This was a battle that lasted until just recently; I didn’t know who Andrea Gibson was until around the year 2018 when another participant in group therapy told me to look her up. I was instantly hooked. Her poetry was like nothing I had ever heard or read before. I watched every video of her on YouTube that I could find, and followed her on social media. Andrea Gibson is my number one inspiration and her Instagram account brings me joy. I love seeing snippets of poems posted to her account or even just a post that expresses something that’s on Andrea Gibson’s mind that day. Looking at how successful Andrea Gibson has become by writing and performing poetry gives me hope that I too can be successful in my work.