Tell me – Who validates you?
“Even if no one ever sees ...
I am a writer. I validate myself.”
Meet Maria
I’m a full-time freelance writer based
in Buffalo (that mid-sized slightly forgotten Western New York
city that has so much more to offer the world besides lake effect
snow and 4 straight Super Bowl losses…) who understands
that writing is a gift meant to be shared with the masses. It’s
not a job – it’s a calling and I’ve come to
understand that I’m a much happier person when I embrace
my talents instead of running from them. But I didn’t always
feel that way.
After I graduated from Canisius College in 2001 with a Bachelor
of Arts degree and an impressive 3.92 GPA, I fell into a depression
and vowed to never write again. When I was a little girl, I used
to write about faraway places and treasured characters but somehow
by age 22, writing conjured up nothing but pressure, deadlines
and a misguided sense of achievement. I wrote to make the grade
– my talent’s worth was reduced to a letter etched
in red ink on the top of my paper (and if that letter grade was
less than an “A” there was an internal hell to pay).
I so easily could have given up on my innate talents, but the
light inside me would have died if I had chosen to push my dreams
aside. So I learned to trust my instincts, follow my ideas and
pen whatever touched my soul. But the most important thing I learned
was to equate success with happiness and a strong sense of self
– not with job titles, pressed pantsuits or a six-figure
home.
And, I fell in love with writing all over again. It’s a
relationship built on laughter, sweat and tears meant to last
a lifetime and beyond.
In August 2002, I slipped on a white-jeweled gown and married
my high school sweetheart of six years. A reason I chose him?
He believes in my dreams.
Get out and
explore
Because a few wrong paths are the only paths
you can take if you wish to discover the right path.
I’ve held many odd jobs through my high school and college
years – I’ve worked the fryers at pizzerias, waited
tables, wore a name tag that read, “Customer Service Specialist”
at a national department store, knowing full well that it should
have read: “Doormat At Your Service. How Can I Help You
Yell At Me?” I understand the hells of retail like when
a customer tries to return a pair of slippers with a hole in the
toe and hands the cashier a receipt that’s three years old
and then screams at her when she refuses to give a cash refund.
I vow to NEVER treat a sales clerk with disrespect until the day
I die.
I’ve also worked as an advertising copywriter but decided
to go freelance because I enjoy the creative freedom to work with
clients I believe in and can stand behind. If you ever get a chance
to see the way a teenage girl stares at an advertisement that
features a supermodel, who commands her to “Look Good, Feel
Good,” you’ll understand how much power a writer has
at her fingertips. That is a power not to be taken lightly.
maria@creativetypeco.com
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