Meet Tijuana Miller

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

Tijuana, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

Growing up with unhealed childhood trauma has been a struggle for me in a lot of different ways. It has affected how I parent, how I am in relationships, and it has held me back from accomplishing a lot of goals that I had set for myself over the years. When I separated from my now ex-husband, I had to slowly work to pick up the pieces of my life to start rebuilding. Cosplaying was something that I always wanted to do but was afraid of looking silly or childish. When I finally got to a point where I wanted to start gaining control over my mental health issues, I started with therapy and giving myself the freedom to explore cosplay. Now three years later, I’m winning cosplay awards here in my city and I am working to establish a cosplay group called Code Bluff, where like-minded individuals have a safe space to express themselves without judgment.

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

I am a cosplayer by the name of Chocolate Cheri’e Delight on all of my social media platforms. The most exciting thing about being a cosplayer is how ANYTHING can become a part of your art- the versatility is endless! As a single mother, I have to devise new and creative ways to create my props and costumes as affordably as possible. I’ve created boomboxes out of cardboard, necklaces out of play dough, and other assorted props out of hot glue and acrylic paint. I’ve been cosplaying for 3 years now and have over 30 different costumes under my belt thus far. Recently, I won 2024 Memphis Female Cosplayer of the Year award and, to date, I’d be most known for my Velma and Rogue cosplays. I’ve also been a guest and cosplay judge at a few cons, have a published children’s book called Uzo and the Bully, and have been published in over 16 publications, including calendars, magazines both domestic and internationally, and several articles. I’ve worked very hard over the years to, not only perfect my technique but also to learn new creative techniques that will allow me to further my experiences and do more cosplays! Currently, I am working with a few other wonderful people to create a group, called Code Bluff, to help bring other nerds closer so that we can all enjoy being around like-minded individuals in a safe space free from judgment. I am hoping to finalize the publication of my 2nd children’s book by the end of the year to complete my goal of being a two-time published author.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

There are so many skills that I could list that would be necessary to walk the journey of cosplaying. One of the most important skills would be to give yourself the grace to fail. Cosplaying isn’t just throwing clothes together and that’s that. If you are trying to really put your all into it, it will take some serious time and work to figure out how to best achieve the outcome you are looking for-and sometimes those plans will fall apart! Use that momentum to get back up and try again! Another very important skill would be to never be afraid to reach out for help. There are so many people in our field that are only ever interested in climbing the ladder just to look down on the rest of us. This absolutely does NOT reflect so many more of us! We WANT to help and are oftentimes so eager to spread the knowledge and help those who may be just starting out! Just because you run into someone who isn’t very friendly or helpful, doesn’t mean you won’t! And finally, celebrate your accomplishments! Not everyone is out to do cosplay for professional reasons, so many of our accomplishments may not look the same. A fully functional cosplay that you spent time, effort, and energy to create and complete is just as big of a celebration as being published in a magazine! Never be afraid to give yourself a pat on the back and toot your own horn-even if no one else is there to celebrate with you! Be your biggest supporter! A huge way to assist with this is to surround yourself with positive associates who are willing to uplift you, even when you’re not in the same room.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I feel that it is always important to perfect the strengths that you already possess before moving on to improve other traits. There is a meme going around on social media that I think best describes this by showing two sets of five glasses. The first set only has one glass filled completely while the second set has all five glasses with a small amount of liquid at the bottom of each. The caption reads “You can do anything…but not everything” and I think this is so very true! If we spend all of our time working on everything else and not utilizing/perfecting our current strengths, then we often get lost in the failure process of learning new things. Focusing on one thing at a time in its entirety guarantees that you don’t have to think about performing the task because it is committed to memory and becomes second nature. A perfect example of this would be for my anime fans who have seen the show Demon Slayer. Without giving away too many spoilers, one of the characters only knows a single technique in its first form. Many may think that this is very weak of him-until he performs said “simple technique”. The character has worked so hard on just this particular move that it is the most powerful in his attack arsenal! A personally backed experience that I have would be me attempting to do everyone’s job at my place of employment. I may know HOW to do it, but by doing everyone else’s job AND my own, I am diminishing the quality of what I need to do, instead of completing my own tasks first.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolatecheriedelight/?img_index=1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChocolateCherieDelight/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChocoCherieD
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chocolatecheriedelight

Image Credits

Ashanti Blair, Owner of Shun B. Images (all photos except Shego x Kim Possible)
Vo Williams (Shego x Kim Possible)