We were lucky to catch up with Lenny Mika Bonk recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lenny Mika, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Ever since I was a little boy, I had the dream of being an author, publishing my own books, and standing on stages to share my words with the world. For a long time, nothing could have seemed more unrealistic though. Still, none of my other dreams has been as present as this one. And back then, nothing hurt me more than feeling like my biggest dream is impossible to turn into reality.

Let’s turn back time a little. Born and raised in a small town in North-Western Germany, surrounded by approximately 10.000 people that are all the same. Can you imagine – 10.000 people living in the same area and no one is just slightly different? Well, I was the one being different. And I bet you could figure that that was hard for me since day one.

So whenever I talked about this dream, people reacted the same way: “Nice dream, but what are you really going to do for a living?” or “You know that’s not a real job, right?” – just two examples of the standard responses I got. At some point, it hurt so much to still believe in this dream to eventually come true while everyone was talking down on me that I stopped talking about it, and at some point even stopped writing. Nowadays it’s hard to believe for me, but back then it seemed like the only solution to prevent breaking apart entirely.

But a few years later, in 2021, I decided to leave my past behind, and to move to Berlin, the capital city of Germany. My plan was to finally start living my life the way I pictured it. The way I knew would make me happy, instead of what other people thought would be good for me.

New year, new me? More like new city, new me!

So I moved to Berlin, and just after a few weeks I felt like a different person already. In June 2022, I got to publish my first book – honestly I’ve never felt that alive before!

It might have been a long and hard way to get to the point where I am today, but I couldn’t be more proud of myself for never giving up on this dream. By now I’ve already published four books, and the next one is on its way. My last publication is called “The Poetry of Connection” and it’s the first part of a Poetry Series called “Lost and Found” – my upcoming book is the second part of that series, called “The Poetry of Healing.” And there is so much more to come, I’m already excited!

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.

As previously mentioned, being a writer and sharing my words with the world has always been my biggest dream. The fact that I never gave up on it, despite all the obstacles on the way, is certainly something that sets me apart from others. All my writings are coming right from my heart and telling a story, a part of the story of my life.

When I was younger, I would have needed someone who has been through similar things and shared their experiences with me – I did not have that person, but that motivates me even more to be exactly this person for other people. My purpose is to inspire people through words, lines, and everything in between, and I’m never going to stop pursuing this. I’m not writing to get rich or gain fame, my mission is much deeper than just these things. That’s something I’m really proud of.

Also, I’m a very versatile person which gives me the ability to write all kinds of texts. That’s why I offer customized/personalized writings in my shop.

What I would like potential followers/readers/clients/customers to know is that there is so much more work behind a book and writings in general, as well as any sort of creative business, than you could ever imagine. I know that our prices seem high sometimes, but I promise my work is always worth the price.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Hearing people say that my words are inspiring, encouraging, empowering, or that my words have had some other meaningful effect on their lives. Really, there is nothing that shows me more that I’m doing the right thing but talking to the people who read my books and listen to my story. On top of that I can’t think of anything that I can’t cope with when writing about it. That being said, it’s healing in many different ways, and that is a huge reward in my opinion.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Listen to us. Be willing to pay for our work. Don’t take us or what we’re doing for granted. Acknowledge that being an artist is a job like any other, and not less valid because most artists started doing it in their free time. Place orders in our own shops instead of huge concerns, because that makes a huge difference. Like, comment and share our posts on Social Media. All these things matter so much more than you could imagine!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lennymika.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamlennymika
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/iamlennymika
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennymikabonk
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamlennymika
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@iamlennymika
• Other: https://shop.lennymika.com/

Image Credits
DNA. Art Club Kateryna Myronenko Sheri Hoffarth