Bloom inWord: A Poetic Journey of Finding Purpose in Pain - Paperback

by Valerie Dial (Editor), Erika Brown (Author)

Life happened to me, or so I thought. As a survivor of childhood trauma, I created a narrative that protected me. It made my trauma make sense, which was instrumental in my survival.

Throughout my 20s and into my early 30s, that narrative began to crumble, and in 2021 I completely broke. Life as I knew it fell apart. Bloom inWord is a collection of poems I wrote between 2007 and 2018. My breaking and undoing led me to "me"; not the "me" I created for the world but the "me" that was hand-crafted by The Divine. I found "me" only by allowing myself to stretch under and beyond the narrative and into my pain. This book is my poetic journey of finding purpose in pain. By releasing this collection of poems, it is my intention to let you know that you are not alone. I invite you to allow my darkness to be a light for you as you navigate your journey of blooming.