My name is Joni, and I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. I grew up in Decatur with my older sister who is currently twenty-six. I was always a fan of reading and writing. Books were always in my top interests because I love to learn. Over the years I have found that there is so much knowledge in any book I have or will read. My writing isn’t where I want it to be, but I am still learning. The author who inspired me to take writing seriously was Chuck Palahniuk. He wrote my favorite book which is Fight Club. I love to make little annotations throughout the text when I am studying it. Writing and reading will always be in my top three interests and I am so glad they correspond with each other in an artistic way.
Developing a creative writing style is important to me since I have an interest in writing and directing films. I spend some of my free-time screenwriting and brainstorming ideas for my personal art. Over the past two years I have created at least 10 short videos and films, which I would say serve as a representation of what is constantly flowing throughout my mind. I find so much joy vaguely sharing a little piece of my brain and transferring the small details of it and placing them into a visual art.
According to my StrengthsFinder results, I am an includer, someone who is consistent, restorative, empathetic, and a developer. These strengths correlate with one another in a very weird way, but they are all still slightly compatible. Being an includer can easily align with also being very empathetic. On the other hand, being restorative can sometimes drain my emotional energy. If I am constantly trying to solve problems with other people, my empathetic side would hinder me while doing so. I would feel like I didn’t do my best if the person I am trying to encourage isn’t really interested in being better. This reminds me of the time in seventh-grade when I saw a girl who appeared to be lonely. I approached her and asked if she wanted to join my friends and I later in the day to play a game of kickball, but she denied my invitation. This confused me at first, but I later picked up on what she was feeling; she wanted to be alone.
Since that experience I have learned to stop that type of judgement. This is why I would like for everyone to know that I am very empathetic. Most of the time I can read other people’s vibes. With this strength it is hard for me to understand that some people need their space. Knowing this about me would help others understand that I am very understanding of those around me and I really do care for them too. Sometimes I never know how to voice my understanding for others and at times I can come off as nosy or “too caring”.
