Learning to ‘Be The Light’ With Your Words
“If you are on this Earth, you are important, period. My poet life didn’t show up the way I expected it to, and I stepped away from it altogether. But you find your way.” — Nina Brewton
If you take nothing else from this, take that first quote with you.
You are important
Your poet life may not show up the way you expect it to
But you find your way
Nina Brewton is an example of how our stories don’t always go the way we want, but they go the way they’re supposed to. And she has a story that’s all too familiar and with a happy continuation.
Nina is a writer, host, performance artist, social mentor, and benefit fundraiser. And from her school days and the Air Force to the page and the stage, she’s got a story worth sharing and one we can all learn from.
Finding your voice
It can be easy to get imposter syndrome as a writer, especially as a poet trying to make this a career.
It’s even easier to pigeon hole yourself into one style or topic.
Nina says, “A lot of times we get caught up in, ‘Well, this is my style. This is what I do. This is what I write.’ And there’s other times where, as a black woman in America, we have the words and the feelings, but there are so many that we become paralyzed.”
When you take the opportunity to write about something you know or have thoughts on, even if it’s not your regular content, you grow as a writer and open more doors for you. Variety goes a long way.
It’s also important to know what your voice is within your work.
Nina shares this story from her experience:
“Sometimes we’ll work with people, and you find that somewhere in the process your voice has been lost through editing — through self editing and literal editing. My first book left me discouraged. … Unfortunately, my editor was a high-brow writer, very by-the-book as far as grammar is concerned and sentences.
“So a couple months after the book was released, I was doing readings and was stumbling over the words. It occurred to me that I don’t sound like this. I wouldn’t say the line like that, that’s not how I wrote it. Instead of rewriting and republishing, I backed away from the whole thing.
“I didn’t trust my writing. I didn’t trust my voice. I didn’t trust that I was smart enough. I’ve done all of this, been to all these places, but I have no degrees, so one would want to hear from me. No one would want to listen to me. They don’t want me to teach your children. I got into this cycle of telling myself all these lies.
“I’m glad to say that this project and the ones that have come during and after it have really reignited my love for writing all over again.
Experience the project that helped Nina re-fall in love with writing: “America, You’re Beautiful”
Finding your place
Sometimes, the community and support system isn’t readily available to everyone.
Nina says, “There was no one to direct me and say ‘This is the way a writer should go.’ Unfortunately, people in my generation were often encouraged to go to school, get a job, drive it ‘til the wheels fall off. And I was trying to find my way creatively. That community was non-existent to me.”
What do you do if that community doesn’t exist for you? You search for them. Because your people are out there. Especially in today’s world where the poetry community is ready to welcome us through a screen.
“Find people who can encourage you and lift you up in your work, in your desires, and in your practice.”
Nina continues, “Even though writing is something you do in solitude, you must find community to connect with because you’re not the only one.”
Having that community goes a long way in pushing you into your greatness, even when you don’t see it yourself.
And that greatness, is your light.
Finding your light
How do you find your light? Be you. It’s already in you. And you have the ideas to support that light.
This is what Nina has learned:
“I’m learning to show up as my authentic self. I was told, ‘When you have an idea, act on it in 48 hours. That doesn’t mean you complete the thing, but act on it. Start to research it. Unpack the idea.’ So take a look at what the idea is and how you can move forward in the thing and lean into it.”
Leaning into an idea can be intimidating for sure. We can get wrapped up in self doubt or insecurities about how everyone else will react to what we create.
But Nina shuts that down with some sound advice:
“What we cannot do is assume what people might think about the work we do.”
Because we cannot control how others feel. But we can control how we feel about ourselves and our own work. You never know who is going to love what you do and who doesn’t. If someone doesn’t, it wasn’t meant for them, and that’s alright.
It’s good to hold yourself to a higher standard, but don’t hold yourself to an impossible standard. No one is perfect, but we can be the best versions of ourselves. That’s who we’re meant to be, and it’s already in us.
Nina says, “Find the light in your own life and step up to be the light in your world. So many of us get paralyzed with changing the world, but start with the shiny light in your three-foot radius. This is wherever you are, and we’ll change the world one step at a time.”
So let’s leave you with this one final thought from Nina’s experience:
“With all of these years and all of this experience I have as a writer and as a poet, and I’m over here hiding?”
You don’t have to hide from your poet life. You are important, and you have a story worth writing.
Listen to or watch Nina’s full episode to get even more golden advice, and be sure to watch “America, You’re Beautiful” to hear her impactful message to America.
Nina Brewton is a writer who speaks and a speaker who sings. She has lived a life consumed by clouds of darkness and overcame that darkness to find the perfect peace, walking in the Light that was always there. In all she does, she aspires to inspire others to not only acknowledge the peace, love and light are available to them but to walk in these three gifts, as they learn to become all that they were created to be. Light begets light and overcomes darkness effortlessly. She hopes to always encourage others to BE inspired as she is inspired.
