hello!

Kenyatta

Curator; RYT-200 Yoga Instructor, Casual Wine Enthusiast, and Inspired Book Lover.

“An unfinished product, but an evolving truth.”

IF YOU’VE VISITED THIS SITE IN THE PAST…

Then you know it was originally launched as a passion project. I was at a point in my life where I needed a creative escape from my monotonous life in Finance. Aside from literally escaping and hopping on a plane to some exotic location, I found that same relief in reading books. In an effort to combine my passion for reading with my love for girl talk, I launched a Chicago-based book club, Black Girls Read (BGR). Every month a beautiful group of (mostly) young, black, professional women get together to discuss the books and life itself, enjoy tasty food, and drink way too many glasses of champagne. It’s pretty neat how easily you can find yourself opening up to people you don’t know that well in a book club setting. What is even more amazing is that despite society promoting competition amongst women, we are instead defying the odds and banding together. We share our stories, we challenge each other’s thought process, we respectfully agree to disagree (some more loudly than others), and most importantly, we enjoy each other’s company. BGR has morphed into a magical sisterhood, and we’ve been going strong since November 2014!

I wanted to find a way to share and spread this special bond we created with the world, and in doing so, LiteralUnwine.com was born. The original site provided overviews of featured books, recommendations for the reader, and favorite quotes. It was a place where readers, of any age, gender, or race, could express their opinions and create a healthy dialogue by answering some of the discussion questions. And, just like in book club, readers could try out some new recipes and drink pairings.

I was really excited about the project, until I realized I wasn’t being authentic. Instead of focusing on the things I enjoyed, I felt obligated to find the perfect food and drink pairings to go with everything. And even worse, I was forcing myself to write about books I hadn’t actually enjoyed reading just for the sake of having a new post. My passion project stopped being about my passions and started to feel like a burden. In theory, it was a good idea, but in practice it wasn’t what I actually cared about. So, I decided to soul search and during my journey something truly transformational happened, I became a RYT-200 yoga instructor.

With that said, I’m honored to welcome you to the new LiteralUnwine. An unfinished product, but an evolving truth. I must admit, I am still on the quest to figure out my purpose in this world, and although I’m not sure of the medium, I am positive it is to share my experience in an effort to help others. These are the things I enjoy and am passionate about spending my time doing. I hope that by sharing them with you, it might inspire you to embark on your own soul searching, passion finding, spiritual journey.