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Welcome back to another episode of The Tragedy Academy; this week on the show, I welcome Zelda Black to discuss her new book, Butterfly Words. Zelda fearlessly shares her story of growing up ostracized and invites us to look deeper and empathize with the misunderstood. We get into the importance of being authentic and holding space for yourself and others around you.
Key Points:
🦋 Book: Butterfly Words
🤯 Walking the mental health line
🖋 Using creativity as an escape
🏳️🌈 Diversity in our modern-day
🎙 Finding your modicum of commination to your peers
🍺 Turning away from drugs and alcohol
Episode Highlights:
[00:40] Introduction to Zelda Black
[01:11] Zelda shares her passion for poetry, dating back to 2014. Growing up in a rural town made up of a majority Caucasian population, racist and prejudiced people surrounded her. It made it hard for her to seek mental health, and she had a fear of being ostracized for having progressive beliefs.
[03:54] Zelda recognized the importance of mental health but not until she was out of grade school. She recalls feeling belittled and disparaged for being a woman. Having a unique sense of style was difficult for her considering the dress code was strict and beyond modest. If any of the girls broke the dress code, they would be shamed and sent home. Zelda found herself having to conform before gathering the courage to be authentic.
[09:50] Zelda recalls never being great at math or science, but English was her safe space. It came naturally to her, and it was one of the few subjects that allowed her to express herself – mainly through poetry. This outlet became an expression from the heart.
[13:40] Today, people are fortunately more accepting of others - although it is still an uphill battle. Zelda expresses a fantasy of wanting to experience that growing up; she shares the tragedy of her middle school friend who committed suicide because of bullying, which haunts her to this day.
[18:02] Zelda reveals that her objective in life is to provide kids with a safe space – something she could only have hoped for growing up. Poetry is the way she pays it forward.
[22:07] Zelda expresses the importance of turning away from drugs and alcohol growing up not to use them as an outlet. She recalled witnessing destroyed people's lives around her from their vices and knew it was not a path she wanted to go down. What kept her going was hope, writing, and the ability to pretend to be someone else for a few moments with acting.
[29:40] Connect with Zelda
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Connect with Zelda:
Beacons Page / Zeldablack
TikTok - @legendofzee
Twitter - @legendofzee
Instagram - @legendofzee
