We were lucky to catch up with Dolores Cruz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dolores, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I am a firm believer that things happen when you are ready for them to happen, though I didn’t always see it that way. I used to feel I needed to hurry up and get things done and saw failure to do so as a commentary on my talents and abilities. Now I see that all our life experiences bring us to a unique place where we can express who we are in whatever manner we choose, and this creative place is constantly evolving. For me, at this point in my life, it is through writing.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I did not start formally writing until May of 2017. In fact, it never even occurred to me to do so. During the 30 years up until that time, I was an elementary school teacher and my focus was on my students and, of course, my husband and 4 kids. Having danced since I was 6, I also taught ballet, tap, and jazz dance at a local studio some evenings and on Saturdays. And as I had been a theatre major at USC, I also found time to feed my passion for theatre through acting classes. My life was full.
But when my youngest child, my son, Eric, was killed in a car accident 6 years ago, I had no choice but to convey my despair and grief through writing. This painful loss opened up a place within me that needed to be expressed. Writing helped me cope. The words flowed naturally into my journal, then a book, then a blog, and eventually an article which was published in HuffPost. Now that I have retired from my work as an educator, I finally have the time to put onto paper all that I have experienced in my life, all that lives in my heart.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My desire to help others going though grief drives my writing, though I write on other themes as well. I have spent much time in various grief support groups and now serve as a volunteer in these groups. I strongly feel that grief, which every one of us will experience at some point in our lives, if not many times, is avoided and swept aside. And that’s understandable because it’s painful. But I believe that opening up this conversation is important and can be healing to us all, and I hope my books, blog, and articles can be of help.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I’m sure I speak for others as well when I say that we often are told early on that we cannot do something. We are compared and judged and that makes it difficult to believe in oneself. There was that little voice in me that said, “What makes you think you’re good enough to be a writer?” Words of encouragement from others that I can do whatever I set my mind to are always appreciated, but I had to know it for myself. Eventually I learned to let go of that voice, and listen to the truth within. I learned to stop comparing myself to others and instead know that I have something unique to me that no one else can offer. And this is true for everyone. Tapping in to who we truly are allows us to to share our gifts and strengths freely. And this goodness ripples out to all those around us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.doloreslookaround.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dolores-cruz-9505054b/
- Other: Blog: https://doloreslookaround.blogspot.com/ HuffPost article: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/son-died-unexpectedly-grief_n_633e01cde4b04cf8f369d425
Image Credits
Rick Wilcoxson