LIONESS of the week: Sheriden

This week's LIONESS is Sheriden, a naturalista and lifestyle blogger who has quite a way with words! Check her out!
Where are you from? I’m from Walterboro, South Carolina. It’s my hometown. It’s my heart and soul. It’s probably no bigger than a shopping mall but I love it all the same. I currently live in Georgia and I’ve lived here for the past decade or so. I always say South Carolina made me but Georgia has definitely shaped who I am today.
Tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Sheriden, but I go by the name The Indie as my byline when it comes to my blog. I think independence is a journey just as much as self-love is and learning more about one’s identity, which is sort of how the name The Indie came about. It’s significant to me. I’m 21 years young, 22 in a few months. I’m a full time college student studying English, minoring in African American Studies, and I work at a law firm part-time. I’m a daughter, an eldest sister, and a friend. I love music, I love film, I love writing, I love life, I love positivity, I love food – I could go on for days! Lol
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Your hair is amazing! How long have you been natural and what made you decide to be? Thank you so much! Amazing is such a strong word, but I’ll take it ;) I’ve been natural for close to two years now. I decided to become natural out of inspiration from my at the time roommate Jewel who had this fabulous head of hair. It was at her shoulders and even though it was straightened, it had so much bounce and so much life. When she told me that she was natural, I was like, I gotta have that in my life lol. So I decided to start transitioning then and there, but relapsed and went back to perms about a month and a half later, which was the breaking point I think I needed to end my relationship with relaxers completely. My scalp got burned so bad during that appointment that I said, “Hair, never again”. I’ve been chemical free ever since, but big chopped in September of 2011. I’ve never wanted to look back.

I love your writing! Your personality definitely shines through on your blog. What inspires you? Oh wow, thank you again Jacque! Oddly enough, movies inspire me. I’ve always heard that a good writer should read, which I do, but I gain a lot of my inspiration from seeing a vision play out before my eyes in real-time, whether onscreen like through movies or in real everyday life. I think it’s important to take long walks during the afternoon by yourself, to look up and pay attention to your surroundings when you’re having lunch. Love is also a force that drives me. I look at it and I want to touch it, I want to mold it, shape it, create it. So a lot of my fictional writing, even the personal writing that you read on my blog, it might look a lot like love because of that spark inside of me.

In terms of writing, what advice would you give someone who is struggling to find their voice? Writing is such a big part of who I am as a person, I’ve been writing for years but probably became really serious about it towards the end of high school. I think through trial and error is how I really discovered my voice because as the old adage states, it’s important to be authentic and with writing, that is the start of finding your voice. I cannot stress that enough. Writing takes a lot of patience and a lot of reflection because you are putting your innermost thoughts and feelings out into existence. Don’t sugarcoat it, don’t hide from it, don’t run away, if you feel it, write it. That is the start to finding your voice.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? That’s a tough one. In 5 years I’ll be 27 so I think I’d like to be somewhere different, setting-wise. Maybe by then I’d have fallen in love with DC to the point that I want it to be my permanent home or maybe I’d be in New York residing in that brownstone I’ve always dreamed of having. Traveling, plenty of travel. If God believes I am ready for it, a husband whom I love, adore, can learn from, can grow with, can create with. I see myself teaching students the way I sometimes felt I wasn’t taught in school. And writing, always writing. I hope to be published by then. We’ll see :)

What is your dream vacation? Spain. I want to go to there lol that’s a 30 Rock reference by the way. I plan to go to Spain within the next few years actually. There is something about it, a rustic romanticism to it that really makes me lust for it.
And lastly, what is one thing you love about yourself? :) My spirit. There are so many things about my life that could have left me broken, but I’m resilient, I’m strong, I’m powerful, I’m woman. I love that about myself. I can make someone having the worst possible day smile like nothing ever happened to them. That’s beautiful to me. I love that about myself.

If you loved what Sheriden had to say check her out on: Her blog: http://indiexrocks.blogspot.com/ Her tumblr: http://indiexrocks.tumblr.com/
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