ginamariela

“You are created, and then you create”

My father said this to me a few hours into my labor with my daughter. My water had broken and I was home preparing for birth, feeling calm. The pain of my contractions hadn’t yet hit me, and my husband and I were feeling ready. My father came to the phone and took deep breaths, much like he would do to teach me how to tread water as a child. “Breathe in, he said, sshhoooooo, y a breathe out whooosshh… Then he said, in his boulder-like accent, “You just remember, this is life. You are created, and then you create.”

Word.

As a mother, and a doula, creation has made a home for me. But I understand that my primary work as a creator is as a writer. I write performance pieces– poetry, monologues, plays– things meant for the stage, or a dinner table, any place where there is a community within touchable distance.

This blog is a canvas for me to experiment with writing about my life as a mother, wife, writer, dancer, educator, doula. I write about what pushes me to the edge, what inspires me, what empowers me and what pisses me off. This is my place for a little bit of everything. I will be talking about my writing process, baby-motherhood milestones, provide some damn right Rhode Islandah social commentary, and hopefully, some poetry that makes a home in my bones. And perhaps, if it’s meant to, in your bones too.

Thank you for reading, for commenting and for being a part of this journey.