this past friday i conducted my first pop-up shop at Howard University.

instead of filling my table with books and focusing on the transactional act of tabling, i created a story with mine.

1. i laid down a Howard blanket as my tablecloth; to give it texture and serve as my foundation
2. i had a looped video playing on my iPad – where i was writing in the park; to show me in a my natural state of creating
3. i put my PERSONAL, open journals on the left of the table, accompanied by old love letters, notes, and exchanges i had over the years; to show that i was willing to be an open book for anyone willing to buy into my journey
4. i paralleled these journals with my first published book of poems, #orchidsandblus, to show what my rough drafts had become in final form

in all, this pop-up opportunity was something i used as a chance to showcase more of myself to those who did not know me. to show when someone buys orchids&blus they are purchasing an experience, not words on a page. that #orchidsandblus is a living, breathing documentary.

i urge you to be an open book. be willing. be vulnerable. get ugly. because rawness is the best way to attract an authentic audience. many people i met in that same day purchased a copy OR vowed to befriend/join me on my journey off the sheer exchange of honesty and showing them who i really was.

this.

this ability to find community and find power in vulnerability is what matters to me now. it’s become my new mission as a writer and i urge you to try the same.

it might just free you.

asé, asé.