We were lucky to catch up with Kimberly Butin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kimberly, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
By the time I was four years old, I had to overcome some pretty intense experiences. I spent from eighteen months of age until three and a half in foster care. I was lucky – I ended up with an amazing family. I had an opportunity most people from my background don’t have. For that, I will forever be grateful.
With what happened at the start of my life I had a lot of challenges – issues with speech and walking to name a few. I was also very shy. This made my school years relatively lonely. I was bullied frequently – especially by the time we moved to Miami when I was eleven.
I had a couple of really traumatic moments happen as a teenager and I battled with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
By the time I hit eighteen, I thought I’d found the love of my life. Your perception of what that looks like coming from a history of attachment issues and unhealed trauma is very different than what it should be. The relationship was very toxic, to say the least.
From all that I’ve managed to survive it’s built up a silent strength that I never expected. If I can make it through all of that and still want to do my best to help others and touch people – I surely can make it through anything else life throws at me.
My life has taught me that every time you start to feel like giving up – (if you don’t give up) you’re just a few steps away from succeeding.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a recruiter by day and a writer all the other times, I’ve been writing since I was about nine years old, having had my first (and only) poem published at eleven. I write poetry (haiku and free form) and stories. I’m currently working on my first novel (which I hope to one day share with all of you).
Writing has always been a safe place for me to explore myself and the world around me. By the time I learned how to read I yearned to be able to do what the greats have done. To make your words unique and precise but also touches people. A way to remind us that no matter what we are going through we’re not alone in it,
I have quite a few poems that I’ve shared that I love. I think my all-time favorites would be my adoption series, my series about PTSD, and a poem I’ve submitted to several literary magazines entitled “Marriage”.
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?
I’d say on my journey so far the three most pivotal skills I’ve learned are: tenacity, a willingness to fail, and being observant.
Without tenacity and a willingness to fail, I don’t believe anyone would succeed as a writer. You will receive hundreds or thousands of no’s as you keep trying to get to that one yes. You’re going to “fail” just as many times.
Being able to take the criticism and the rejections and use that as fuel is the best skill I’ve ever had.
I’d say the best advice I can give: write for you, not for them. If you stay true to you and you keep trying and evolving you’ll make it to where you want to go. Don’t take the no to heart. Keep going!
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
I’d say with my Mom and the man who raised me (Tim) I was taught the importance of hard work. My mom allowed me to pursue every art I wanted. She gifted me eleven years of acting classes, several instruments, voice lessons, and writing classes. They both taught me the importance of being practical but also being a dreamer.
My dad’s biggest lesson to me was to embrace my individuality. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve furthered that concept in the sense that there is no “normal” so being myself is the only option.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Kimmyfaewords
- Facebook: Kimmy Fae: Written Words
Image Credits
Adobe Express
