Courage doesn’t always show up with a sword and a superhero soundtrack. Sometimes, courage whispers. Sometimes, it trembles. And sometimes—it rhymes. That’s what I learned on stage as a spoken word poet: that bravery often begins where your voice cracks. It grows in the spaces between the stanzas, and it shows up, not as perfection, but as presence.
You see, spoken word poetry isn’t just about performance. It’s about truth-telling. It’s about holding a mic to your wounds and turning them into wisdom. As a spoken word artist, every time I step onto a stage, I’m stepping into a conversation with fear, with doubt, with expectation. And every time I walk off that stage, I leave those doubts behind me—rewritten, redefined, and rhymed into power.
Courage, in everyday life, works the same way. It’s the quiet decision to speak up in the meeting where no one looks like you. It’s the moment you say “yes” to the opportunity your imposter syndrome tried to convince you you’re not ready for. It’s rewriting your inner dialogue with the same passion you’d use to perform a poem—replacing “I can’t” with “watch me.”
What spoken word poetry teaches us is that we are all storytellers, whether or not we speak in verse. Your story is your superpower. When you own it—unapologetically, unashamedly—you give others permission to do the same. That’s why I believe in the power of vulnerability. When you show your scars, people see their own healing. And when you share your rhythm, you become a reminder that courage doesn’t need to be loud—it just needs to be real.
As a motivational poet and leading keynote speaker, I’ve had the honor of using my words to spark movements, to amplify marginalized voices, and to transform rooms full of strangers into communities of shared humanity. That’s the intersection of courage and creativity: it’s where diversity, equity, and inclusion stop being buzzwords and start becoming bridges.
So today, be brave in your own cadence. Don’t wait for the perfect time to share your truth—the right time is the realtime. Whether it’s on stage or in a one-on-one conversation, let your voice echo with the courage of someone who has nothing to prove and everything to express.
Because when you live like your life is a poem, courage stops being an event—it becomes your everyday language.
