We were lucky to catch up with Adara Cox recently and have shared our conversation below.
Adara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
The legacy I am working toward creating, is one where I inspire women who are healing from trauma to learn how to embrace their healing; and love themselves unconditionally. I want the work that I create and share to impact women who are healing, whether they are just learning how to heal or have been healing for years, to live authentically while also inspiring other women they connect with to do the same. I visualize my legacy being that women learn to lead with love, in all aspects of their lives, so that love for self and healing from trauma, is normalized. And that, the generation of women after me, know that loving oneself in its purest form, has the power to dismantle the continuance of generational trauma.
Adara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Adara Cox, and I am 24 year old South Carolina native, residing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Shortly after graduating with my B.A. in 2020, I moved to Florida to pursue my M.A. After graduating with my M.A. last year, I decided to stay in Florida because I love the south and the year-round warm weather.
I am a writer by trade; and have been published on numerous occasions for my academic research and personal content creation.
As a writer, I always found myself writing poetry/prose, and journaling about my experiences working through trauma. In 2021, I started to take my prose/journal writing more seriously, and started a blog called, Adara Affirms, where I shared my personal reflections on various lessons I was learning as I began intentionally healing. Little did I know, how much of an impact my writing was making on my readers. I was constantly getting DMs and emails and even texts from my subscribers about how much they resonated with my reflective pieces.
Even though I am a writer by trade, I create videos about my healing and wellness journey to inspire women on theirs. And through my videos, I have had the opportunity to connect with other wellness content creators and creatives all over the world, who I have had the honor of building meaningful connections with. I know that because I share my experiences with others on social media, it provides the space to create discussions about the healing journey, giving women who may not have community, the space to connect with other women who are currently healing. And that is what I love most about sharing my experience, I get to provide a safe space for other women who are healing to feel seen, heard and validated.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I think what many non-creatives may not understand, is my very open/vulnerable content. I’ve had encounters in the past where some thought I was looking for attention or were thinking I needed someone to talk to.
Both my writing and videos are deeply vulnerable, and I believe, most art is, regardless of the medium that the message is being portrayed.
I feel that, for those who do not understand or do not see the value in why I create the way that I do, it is an opportunity to do self-reflection or ask more questions about the mission behind the creative work shared. I know that my work is not for everyone; and some may have strong opinions about what and why I choose to share what I do; but that alone, creates an opportunity to have meaningful conversations and learn from one another.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
As a wellness advocate and creative, I am all about transparency.
Back in April of this year, I was struggling with stress and anxiety. I was having anxiety attacks daily; having unbearable night sweats, and was sleeping poorly. I had so many things that I was trying to control which led me to overthink and stress myself out.
My birthday is in April; and on my birthday, I fainted out of nowhere. Never had any history of fainting, so that right there was a wake up call for me. I’ve been in therapy the past 3 years and have been focused on healing holistically. But the day I fainted, led me to seek further help.
I decided to take a psychiatric diagnostic test, and I was diagnosed with Severe Depression and Anxiety. I knew that I had been struggling with anxiety for most of my life, but the depression part, was new for me. It was a relief for me to finally have an answer to what was going on with me, as the anxiety/depression was manifesting in my body for months.
My next step, was to go on antidepressants to help ease my symptoms but also support me in balancing my emotions. This was not what I wanted for myself, but I remained open-minded because I felt that the holistic healing regimen and therapy alone, was no longer enough to help me regulate.
I have now been on antidepressants for 4 months; and I feel the best I ever felt in months. Of course, I still have my days where I struggle, but it no longer overpowering my body. I sleep better, the night sweats have stopped; and I have been regulating my emotions more healthily.
Pushing myself to seek further help was not easy. But I knew that I had to find a solution, so that I could do the work that fuels me. I love to share and help women on their healing journey, so without doing the work to help myself, I would not be able to do that. It takes a lot of strength to do the inner work and seek help when necessary. I commend myself for that and the resilience I have built over the years, to keep pushing even when things become challenging.
Fun fact: the word resilient is my favorite word; and it was my very first tattoo (I have a total of 5).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/adara.thegoddess
- Instagram: heal.withadara
- TikTok: heal.withadara
Image Credits
For the two green studio pics with the green dress, the photographer: TJ Mayberry; IG: @thereeltjay_