Meet Oswald Perez

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oswald Perez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Oswald, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from everything that’s happened to me.

From the fact that I shouldn’t be alive right now, due to being born six weeks premature. And all the complications that came with diagnosed with cerebral palsy at such a young age. I was determined not to let the circumstances dictate how I would grow up in life.

In the midst of all the events of growing up, I would begin to find that writing was the way that I could speak my truth into the world. I didn’t know that the messages that I wrote in my parents birthday cards and specific day cards would be the first steps towards being a writer and a poet. Nor did I know that when my English teacher in high school, Ms. Karen Levy wrote on my found poem, “Oswald, you’re a poet!” that there would be something there.

But like everything else in my life, I didn’t give up on my writing. I use my life experiences to anchor the work.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m focused on my writing and poems.

I post pieces to my Instagram feed at least five days a week. On occasion, I write longer form pieces for my website and my Substack, “The Newsletter Under The Security Blanket”. Once a week, I record an audio version of a poem being read for my Swell account and a video version for my YouTube and TikTok pages. It’s special to press send on each piece that I do, as it’s a little bit of me that gets sent out into the world each day. Sometimes, pieces tend to resonate more with people from one day to the next. Writing to me, is a way of being cathartic.

I’m in the midst of re-releasing my first poetry book, “A Poetic Journey, Staying At Home” via The Key Publishing House. It’s scheduled to be released in paperback on October 5th via Amazon, with the Kindle version already published. I also have a follow-up book in the works, “A Poetic Summer”.

It all ties into a greater ambition, to release four books of poetry, categorized by the seasons of the year.

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?
The three qualities that were most impactful on my journey are my way of seeing the world, a sense of empathy and belief in the things that I do. As I landed on the thing that makes me stand out from the rest of the crowd. Even if I could be better at it.

If I could give a piece of advice, I would implore people to never give up on themselves. What you trying to do will resonate with people in this world, even if it’s only one person. That person will inevitably spread the word of what they’ve seen and word of mouth will build. The world needs all the creatives it can as creativity does make the world a better place to be in.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was not give up on me.

As the legend goes, my sister and I were the only babies to survive in the NICU at Flushing Hospital at the time of our birth. My parents didn’t expect either of us to survive, yet we did.

Even if there were difficulties in raising me along the way, they did the best they possibly could.

I’m on my own two feet after so many years of orthopedics, braces, doctor’s appointments and numerous surgeries. I have my Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College hanging on the way of the living room. I have a full time working for one of NYC’s numerous city agencies. I travel at least once a year on my own. And I’m able to turn my stories and moments from living life into poems and prose that have been published.

Do I have all the skills needed to be an adult? Not necessarily. But I’m coming into my own as a late bloomer.

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