We recently connected with Adrienne Carrington and have shared our conversation below.

Adrienne, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with important influences in our lives. Is there a historical figure you look up to?

Ever since I was little, one of my biggest inspirations and role models was the late Maya Angelou. The way she took all of her pain and trauma, and found a way to express it through writing is what I’ve always aspired to do. Like her, I write from a personal place; one full of dark and quiet spots in my mind. But I’ve found that talking and writing about it, as hard as it is, is a vital part of the healing process.

Adrienne, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Adrienne, and I am a poet, writer, and teacher. I have self-published 4 books of poetry through an independent company called Blurb, which is where they can be purchased. I began writing poetry in middle school, as a coping mechanism for my emotions and life challenges.

Poetry has helped me get through countless rock bottom moments, and my writing reflects that. I write truthfully about my life, thoughts, and emotions, in hopes that I can make someone else feel less alone. If my poetry helps at least one person find strength to keep going through their struggles, then I have done my job.

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

For a very long time, I believed that you should keep your struggles private, because your business is not anyone else’s business (think of the phrase “what happens here, stays here”). So through years of depression, stress, and anxiety, I learned to hold everything inside, and push my feelings deep into my subconscious. The problem with that, is that nothing can be held back forever. It’s not possible; eventually, you will snap, and when you do, you will hurt others or yourself, whether you meant to or not. It took me having a series of meltdowns to realize what I was doing was not healthy.

Coming to that realization is what caused me to start sharing my poetry with trusted friends, to teachers, to complete strangers. The lesson I learned is that you are not alone in your journey, Others have been, or currently are, where you are, and know what you’re going through. Through community, you can find strength.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Last year, I started attending spoken word events, My books have been out for years, but I barely make any sales because people either don’t know about Blurb, or they don’t trust it, or, the most common issue, is that I don’t have physical copies to sell. I had gotten discouraged about it, until a friend suggested I perform some of my poetry. When I started attending events, people became curious about where to find the rest of my work, and this pathway has begun to start a little bit of revenue, much to my gratitude.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blurb.com/user/Adriennec21?profile_preview=true
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/carringtonpoetry