We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tyra Coleman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyra, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I hope my legacy will be one people look back on and say “She was true to herself”. I want my story to encourage others to do what they love despite other people’s opinions, fear, and rejection. It’s a challenging world we live in, and to have people out here who inspire and uplift you through the tough times we’re all experiencing is a blessing. So many times I’ve felt alone and feel alone until I realize that there are people out here that can one hundred percent relate to and understand what I’m going through and how I’m feeling. I want my words that have created these books and poems to bring comfort, to create conversations, and encourage positive action. Years down the line if people were to take a look at me and how I’ve maneuvered through my life, I would want them to take away the importance of being true to themselves, keeping their integrity, and doing what brings them the most joy. Our time here is already temporary, we just have to live this shit up and make the most out of it, I know firsthand how easy it is to get sucked into the darkest pit and want to quit. But when you realize how many people didn’t get the chance to experience everything this life has to offer because their time was cut short, you realize despite your struggles and trials that we have to at least try to make this experience worthwhile.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Tyra Coleman and I’m a 21 almost 22-year-old poet, spoken word artist, and self-published author of three poetry books currently with a fourth on the way. I was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Maryland. I’ve been writing since I was a young child and poetry was something I fell in love with in middle school during a very rough time for me mentally and emotionally. It became an outlet and now a decade later it’s something I’m so passionate about and in love with. The majority of what I write about consists of my own personal struggles and battles, other people’s experiences that I’ve witnessed, and societal/community issues that concern me. My books for me have brought on aided some sort of healing within me and an opportunity to release so much baggage and an overload of junk taking up space in my mind. Poetry to me means, releasing, healing, and expression. words hold so much power and what we do with them means so much, and what I plan to do with my words is bring awareness, vocalize my own struggles and thoughts, and give other people material they can relate to.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This is not necessarily a lesson that I’ve been taught but something I feel we as a society of this new age we’re in has been conditioned to believe, and it’s that if you don’t have a whole bunch of people who know who you are, or if you don’t have a lot of people supporting you, following you, and paying attention to you, that what you do isn’t important or doesn’t matter. and I just want to be the one to say that that is far from the truth and completely false and wrong. Whatever it is that brings you peace and happiness and that you love will always be important, even if it’s just to you, don’t ever downplay or feel like what you do isn’t as great as something or someone else just because you don’t have a lot of traffic. What’s meant for you is meant for you and whoever else finds worth in what you’re doing, even if it’s not a lot the ones who know and care will mean way more than a lot of people who really don’t understand, and see the purpose and point of what you do.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I get to express myself freely in the way I love the most. I’m not put in a box and forced to fit certain criteria. I write. And whatever comes with that I let flow and lead me to other creative ideas. The possibilities are endless with what I do and I love that. One day all this will pay off, I won’t always be “chasing a fantasy’ like some people love to say. I’m a unique person, I’m like no one else and I don’t have to be. I do what I like, whether it makes me money or not. The most rewarding aspect is doing what I love and not expecting anything in return because what I get from this is something no external factors could give me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/Tyra-Coleman/e/B08ZNHDRLG/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writtenbytyra/
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@writtenbytyra