ROOTS

Before this book had a cover, a title, structure or pages. It was a feeling that I didn’t quite have the language for. I knew before that I wasn’t just trying to create something simply beautiful, I needed it to be honest and real. When I first began thinking about this book, I kept returning to one question: What does it mean to come back to yourself? Not the version of you shaped by survival or the version the world to you to be, but the version before the fear and survival. I wanted the cover to hold that. So eventually, I started with various sketches. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what I was drawing toward I only knew the body had to be part of it. The reason being is that this journey lives in the body first, in what you had to carry and survive. So, I drew the body first and everything else came afterwards.

Next, came the door. In this case, the door represents an entrance because there are parts of ourselves, we don’t have access to until we’re ready to meet them. So, the door represented the moment we decide to go inward, to sit with what we’ve avoided, to face what we’ve buried, and to open something that has been closed for a long time and this decision is never easy but truly necessary. The flowers came last; I wanted the flowers to represent the positive throughout this journey. Meaning, this journey doesn’t have to be treacherous there is still beauty even if we cannot see it yet. The flowers represent the growth and bloom that comes from the journey and to simply remind you that you are not who you were. Next the colors came, I’ve been drawn to green for quite some time now, but I wanted something softer but regal. For me, colors aren’t just colors they are feelings, so I chose teal because it felt like depth without heaviness and I chose gold because to me gold symbolizes embodiment. Gold felt like the moment when you stop searching for validation and began to recognize your worth and stand on that; very throne ish lol. The title HOMECOMING came because I realized that coming back to yourself is a decision and you’re allowed to change your life at any given moment but a part of that is being honest. So, HOMECOMING is in itself is about truth, your truth and truth can be very difficult to navigate but to live a life that is authentic truth is essential. It’s not about butterflies and roses and the good things, it’s that equal balance of addressing the good and bad and deciding how to navigate that. So, all in all this cover holds a reflection of what it means to sit with yourself long enough to recognize that you were never truly lost……just distant.

P.S. I’M STILL DECIDING ON THE COLOR OF THE SUBTITLE SO BELOW YOU WILL SEE THE TWO VERSIONS