Meet Terry Thomas

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Terry Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Terry, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

For me, creativity is a huge part of my life. Ever since I was a kid, music has always been the closest thing to my heart. I am a self-proclaimed music geek who loves & knows nearly everything when it comes to music and it has been a huge part of my life because that was all I heard growing up. My mom and my dad are music lovers, but my dad was also a singer. There is not one genre that has been untouched as I enjoy everything, but I absolutely love R&B and pop music. I honestly can’t imagine my life without music as it is one of the few things in life that keeps me sane.

I started singing and dancing since I was two years old, but dancing has always been a huge outlet for me to express my true authentic self. As a kid, I wasn’t trained or never was signed up to take dance classes by my parents, but that didn’t stop me from enhancing and honing in on my dance craft and my passion for such. I grew up watching music videos, musicals, and YouTube choreographies. After I watched them, I would learn the dances, copy them, and would put my own little twists to them. I grew up watching artists like Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Aaliyah, Britney Spears, Ciara, Usher, and TLC. These artists played a huge influence in my dancing tastes and styles that I like to convey.

Whenever I dance, I feel the most me and the most confident as I perform and put on a show. Whether in the mirror of my room on the stage, I feel UNSTOPPABLE. However, as an adult, responsibilities and life take up a lot of your free time, and we are told to suppress ourselves to fit a certain mold and stifle our own creativity. Just a couple years ago, I started grad school to get my master’s in psychology and I felt that I had to stifle my true, authentic, self down in order to fit the mold of what was considered “professional”. As I got started going into my journey of pursuing my master’s, the one thing that my professors taught me is in order to be and do my best in being a therapist/psychologist is in order for clients to open up to us, is to be our authentic self, and that alone opened my eyes. As I had free time outside of classes, I kept my creativity alive by posting myself dancing on TikTok. In addition to my dancing, it also ignited my passion and interest in screenwriting and creating skits based on a TV show I was writing for as I had writer’s block. Not to mention that one of the skits I created ended up being used in a presentation I did at a conference at my school, so the fact I was able to combine both my professional/educational world with my creative world is such an awesome accomplishment for me and thus lead to me creating a mini-series.

I feel that for any adult, it is important to have some part or element of themselves that keeps their inner child or their dreams they have alive by doing hobbies that they loved and helps them keep their authenticity intact. For me, between my passion for music singing, dancing, and expressing my colorful, bubbly self through my fashion & accessories, these are the very things that not only keeps my creativity alive, but keeps my inner child alive.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am currently a children’s outpatient therapist where I get to help kids, pre-teens, and teenagers that struggle with mental health issues and I believe it is very rewarding to help out the youth and give them the safe space to help them figure out how to navigate life and give them the coping skills they need to get them through. Outside of just being a therapist, I’m just a regular guy that likes to express himself through music, dancing, singing, screenwriting, and fashion. I do dance covers of my favorite K-Pop songs, songs I loved growing up, and even create original choreography of my own on TikTok and sometimes Instagram.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I believe the three qualities that were the most impactful in my journey are definitely discipline, empathy, and self-awareness. When it comes to how I got to where I am in terms of my academic/professional journey, having discipline and focus is very crucial to taking the proper steps to get where one needs to go. Pursuing higher education and knowledge has been drilled into me by my parents as I am a first-generation college student, and I wanted to be sure I succeeded. I went to college straight out of high school and went to grad school straight out of college while holding internships and part-time jobs and it is not easy to balance. I would say empathy is also an important quality because as one goes through whatever personal journey goes through, it is important to be selfless and be kind to others as being kind to others and putting yourself in another person’s shoes can go a long way. Lastly, self-awareness is a huge quality one must have because knowing your strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and just overall having a good sense of self can help one learn from one’s mistakes and enhance one’s growth.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

To be honest, adulting is REALLY HARD!! I just graduated with my master’s degree five months ago, I took some time off to regroup, and I just recently started my first ever full-time job where I work a 9-5 five days a week and truly knowing what it means to finally become responsible, independent, and self-sufficient, but also being able to find the decent work-life balance and still being able to find time to cater to my hobbies that feed my creativity and keep me sane is so difficult. This year has had some pivotal moments for me, but these past couple of months have been draining, but I’m learning to take it day by day as I’m owning and not losing the essence of who I am, learning to still find my voice and place my boundaries at the age of 25. Also, having a good support system of my best friends and my family is what keeps me grounded and encourages me to break out of my shell when I want to become a shrinking violet.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: T The Music Geek (@musicgeek_22)
• Twitter: @kiddynamite222
• Other: TikTok: @musicgeek_22