COMING OF AGE

Growing up on three continents was as harrowing as it was exciting. And while I often felt isolated after landing in the Venezuelan Andes as a child, I am forever grateful to have discovered my extended family and the works of Pablo Neruda, Rubén Darío, Jorge Luis Buesa, Gabriel García Márquez, Alfonsina Storni, and Andrés Eloy Blanco:

…sombra azul que cruza el mar
la borra el azul marino...

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Each land that welcomed me through childhood and adolescence unwittingly housed a dreamer. To say that my academically-minded parents were not in the least enthusiastic about my dream of becoming an actress would be an understatement. I found the courage to mention it but once, quickly grasping that I’d be better off putting that idea to rest the way one would a loved one: surrender yet always remember. And so it was that I put myself through college, earning my degrees in architectural engineering and business administration. But as fate would have it, I ended up working with the largest independent producer of Spanish language television, a Venezuelan living in Hollywood. A year there spawned a seventeen-year career, not as an actress but as a bilingual entertainment journalist, host, producer, voice-over talent, translator, and writer for the silver screen. My mentor correctly foresaw the path to a fulfilling career: “learn everything there is to know about how to produce a show before seeking to host it and you will be thankful to have been more than a talking head.” He could not have been more clairvoyant.

PIVOTING MY PURPOSE

An unrelenting quest to expand my creative horizons led me to further study acting, painting, drawing, voice, dance, and Italian while handcrafting jewelry. While the bliss of motherhood halted my career in television, my thirst to weave beauty and creativity into everyday life never floundered. In 2014, Designs by Alina was born as a fine jewelry design studio that grew to include a collection of gifts and home accents.

The Designs by Alina blog quenched my thirst for writing, featuring everything from design to motherhood to travel. On November 2, 2020, I wrote my first poem, “Civic Sunset,” to free my mind from discord and noise before volunteering for the National Voter Protection Hotline on Election Day. This exercise reignited my old obsession with poetry, producing dozens of poems* and a couple of essays slowly finding their way to this sanctuary. I hope you draw beauty, meaning, and light from them.

*Additional micro poetry can be found on Instagram. The account @streetwritersofficial published “Dear Young Poet” and asked me to join their team as senior curator and contest judge, a wonderful experience spanning one year.

NOTE FOR YOUNG WRITERS

Upon completing my A levels in England, I returned to the US, having never heard of the SAT or ACT exams required for college admission, let alone that students spent three to six months preparing. I was ill-equipped to face the challenge and daunted by endless pages of multiple-choice questions, including the dreaded “none” or “all of the above.” As a matter of course, I bombed my test —I really bombed it, for the school insisted that I enroll in remedial English! My refusal convinced the admissions director to allow me to challenge my placement test with the essay that garnered me a spot in Honors English. All this to say that if you love writing, follow your heart, flex that muscle and…

Be your own advocate —if not you, then who?

Remember that teachers, publishers, readers, and fellow writers sing to their tune. What will yours be?