Creative on the rise!

Introducing the amazing Andrea!

Andrea is an exceptionally talented and gifted poet with remarkable passion and determination to make impactful strides in the world through her craft and this is very obvious in her zeal and her achievements in the world of Literature, specifically poetry speaks for itself. Her relatable and soulful style of poetry is exactly why Andrea is now here on the most prestigious Poetry platform in the world. 

Today, we take a  foray into the world of Andrea with excerpts below chronicling her incredible story. 

"  Ever since I could hold a pencil, art has flowed through me, pulsing like electricity.  I’ve enjoyed drawing for as long as I can remember and although I haven’t made much time for it in the last decade or so, I’ve dedicated more than half my life to honing another craft.

Like many, my love for writing started when I was a child.  I wrote diary entries and classroom essays when I was about nine years old.  I was both deeply captivated by painting elaborate pictures with words and challenged by exploring various writing styles.  My love for poetry began a handful of years later, around the time I experienced my first heartbreak at the hands of young love, and the unexpected death of my beloved stepfather.  Before he came to brighten our lives, I had experienced abandonment and childhood trauma wrought by abuse.  As time continued without him, I swallowed my grief until it ate me alive. The majority of my 20s was spent escaping that pain. I found immense joy and passion in yoga, calisthenics, powerlifting and running. Literally and figuratively. But with its weak foundation, the walls I built around the ache eventually came crumbling down.

Since I never quite learned how to cope with my anger and hurt, I had also found comfort in losing myself in alcohol and drugs.  Deep in the belly of addiction is a dark place I never want to find myself in again. The first few years were laced with a deadly concoction of blackouts and underage drinking, and it didn’t take long for alcohol to turn my life upside down. I was considered a functioning alcoholic, maintaining my well-established career and hiding it well—for the most part.  I was a slave to numbing the pain and not even the string of arrests, or the nights in jail, the recurring damage to my vehicles, or the DWI was enough to pull me from the bottle.  I continued to abuse alcohol and hurt the people I loved, while shame and regret consumed me more and more. My bottom came when I had everything to lose and everything to live for.

When I was court-ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous, I found myself questioning everything I believed.  At first, I was in complete denial, turning the wheels in my head to twist facts in suite of my own twisted theories.  It was around this time that I met the man who would change my life forever.  He supported me at my lowest and never gave up on the woman I was or could become.  He believed in me, before I knew how to believe in myself.

During the course of my sobriety, eight years in total, I've relapsed three times.  I'm not proud, but I do take accountability and accept the undeniable hold that my addiction will always have on me.  It can only make me stronger.  I've been clean for four years and three months, and it's one of the best things I've ever fought for.  And I'll always fight for it.  Oh, and the man that chose to fight alongside me?  He's now my husband and the father to our two children.

I gave birth to our first daughter in the midst of the 2020 COVID pandemic.  She's helped me grow and understand this life in the profoundest of ways by giving me purpose.  And after ten years in my career as an IT Technician, I decided to resign to stay home with her.  Two years later, I fell pregnant a second time but lost our baby before we heard a heartbeat.  Despite the lifelong emptiness and devastation that comes with such loss, we never gave up. In 2023, we welcomed our second daughter, the one who completed our little family.   Being a mother has enriched my life in every way imaginable, but it's not without its challenges.  If there's one thing that pushes and pulls your heart up and down, inside and out all at the same time, it's motherhood.  There's no force stronger than the unconditional love that's felt. It's truly all consuming. 

 

Since losing myself a little (a lot) these past few years, I've returned to poetry—the form of art which has my heart and serves as a healthy outlet. Writing is deeply therapeutic and healing when all seems lost, and I love creating worlds and exploring them. In recent months, I’ve rejoined the world of Instagram under the username @dre.writesnow to share my work once again with others, and to become a part of the amazing, uplifting community that exists within.  I'm in the process of publishing my first collection of poetry which is set to be released soon, and I'm over the moon about everything that's yet to come!  Thank you all so much for reading my story and following my journey.  I'm incredibly grateful for this life and for the beautiful gift of poetry. These woven words have allowed me to become so much more than I ever could have hoped to become. And still, I am becoming".

Andrea's abiity as a Poet and all round creative of repute is World Class and second to none as she was personally recommended by International Bestseller and respected Poet, Joseph Spencer, as in his exact words "Andrea is an indefatigable collosus to the poetry community. . Her talent is truly world class and she fully deserves all the praise and recognition for being a wonderful human being and an excellent creative par excellence". 

 She will feature on her first official Collaboration with Spencer on his critically acclaimed "Collab Tour" pretty soon.

Everyone at The Poet's Digest wish Andrea  the very best in all her endeavours.

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