An Honest Intro…
“Please no bullshit,” is an open plea for honesty; and a statement meaning that I intend to offer the same. WITH RESPECT AS A REQUIREMENT, AND DISRESPECT AS UNACCEPTABLE. I've written about my main goal for this personal blog and a little bit about myself in my About page, but please allow me to reintroduce: my name is Kay Hollins (maybe known as @kayhollinswrites on Instagram). I am a writer from Brooklyn, NY. Currently one year post-undergrad, I am trying my best to roll with the twenty-something tide(s). If you’re someone like me, even the thought of not being in control makes you a little queasy.
Graduation day left me feeling free for the first time in a long time. Not the scary kind of free, the affirmative kind. I’d been trying my best to get some evidence of writing experience under my belt before I’d graduated college. The plan had been to spend as little time working passionless jobs after graduation as possible. I didn’t give myself specific dates to accomplish these goals (therapy taught me that does more harm than good, to be honest), but I knew what kind of path I was working on. Now a year later, and currently on my second passionless job; am I where I want to be yet? No. Am I closer than I’ve ever been? Absolutely. Often times we think about how long and treacherous the journey is (or will be) and we forget to congratulate ourselves when we achieve all the smaller goals in between where we’ve been and where we’re going. I’ve come a long way— from the girl who’d post short prose in captions on Tumblr and Instagram, to a self-published author by 2018, and now college grad. None of that was easy. Take the time to tell yourself, I did that.
When it comes to my writing, my poetry especially, quite a few of my accomplishments are the product of having/belonging to a community that I mutually respect. I remember being much younger and knowing that I had a love for the arts and a love for writing, though growing up I’d also thought (and a lot of times we are taught)that art is more of a hobby than a profession. It started to become more and more clear to me as I got older that I’d make it my profession, by any means. Like a lot of the amazing Black creatives that I’m privileged to see shining, we’re making a way— to be seen, to be heard, and to be compensated for the very art that too often gets stolen, appropriated, and misrepresented. Would I love to be a paid,“known” writer, get to travel and publish pieces that are sought after everywhere, have a voice/platform that stretches far and wide? Of course (and I’ll be damned if I ever say all this still isn’t in the cards for me). What I am saying though, is that I’m here to appreciate the journey just as much as the destination. This blog is where I can write openly about all the things that make me who I am, and express myself as a Black writer on my way to the top (and what this “top” looks like for me). I’m here to talk music, food, Black lit., fashion, entertainment, etc. (this list is endless), as well as chronicle the ups and downs of crafting your ideal career in your youth. Thank you for supporting, reading, and simply being here. I can’t wait to share with y’all!
