{"id":41415,"date":"2025-12-01T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T07:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/ballito-umhlanga\/?p=41415"},"modified":"2025-11-29T15:17:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T13:17:54","slug":"the-courage-to-create","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/ballito-umhlanga\/blog\/2025\/12\/01\/the-courage-to-create\/","title":{"rendered":"The courage  to create"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><strong>Ballito\u2019s Christina Wiese has released her first book of poetry and is excited <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>to share her work \u2013 a heartfelt collection exploring love and loss.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>At 51, Christina is proof that it\u2019s never too late to pursue your creative calling. Best known locally as the marketing manager at Zimbali Lakes, Christina has just published her debut poetry collection, Dear Someone: A Collection of Poetic Conversations \u2013 a deeply personal and moving anthology that has been years in the making.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started writing my first poem at 15,\u201d she says. \u201cI can still feel the emotion. It was called Don\u2019t Give Up and was just a few stanzas, written in my music room back in Chatsworth, where I grew up.\u201d That early spark never left her, even if life, with all its ups and downs, sometimes got in the way.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Christina has written through moments of joy and heartbreak, using poetry as a form of release and reflection. \u201cI can\u2019t sit and just say, oh, now I\u2019ve got to write,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a thought, a feeling, a word. Something sparks it \u2013 whether it\u2019s a person, an experience or even a single moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those moments have been many. From marriage and divorce to living abroad and losing both of her parents within weeks of each other earlier this year, Christina\u2019s poetry traces a lifetime of love, loss and self-discovery. \u201cMy dad died in February, and my mom in March,\u201d she shares. \u201cFor their funerals, I wrote poems. It was very personal. That\u2019s when I knew I needed to include a section called Dear Parents to close the book.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dear Someone features 96 poems divided into five categories \u2013 Dear Daddy, Dear Me, Dear Lover, Dear God and Dear Parents. Together they capture what she calls \u201cthe mix of life \u2013 the good, bad, ugly, joy and peace.\u201d Some verses explore grief; others celebrate passion or spiritual connection. \u201cAs an Indian woman, I\u2019ve had to learn not to shy away from vulnerability,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s even a poem called Fifty Shades of Brown. I\u2019m not going to apologise for it. It\u2019s part of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christina describes her writing process as intuitive and spontaneous. \u201cI literally can write between ten minutes and an hour,\u201d she laughs. \u201cWhen it\u2019s written, it\u2019s done. I don\u2019t rewrite. Each poem belongs to the moment it came from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her hope now is that readers will find something of themselves in her work. \u201cI want people to look at the poems and see what they connect with. I don\u2019t want to tell them what each one means. Every poem has a story, but it\u2019s up to the reader to feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Publishing her first book in her 50s feels especially meaningful. \u201cFor a long time, I was shy to share my poetry,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut after everything I\u2019ve experienced, I know the timing is right. I want people \u2013 especially women \u2013 to know that it\u2019s never too late to do what you love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And this is just the beginning. With plans for a Poetic Conversations podcast and future collections already taking shape, Christina is ready to let her words lead the way. \u201cIt\u2019s with great humility that I say it\u2019s a gift,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I look back, sometimes I can\u2019t believe I wrote it. But I did \u2013 and it\u2019s time to share it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Details:<\/strong> www.poetic-conversations.co.za<br \/>\n<strong>Photograph:<\/strong> Hikari Media<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ballito\u2019s Christina Wiese has released her first book of poetry and is excited to share her work \u2013 a heartfelt collection exploring love and loss. At 51, Christina is proof that it\u2019s never too late to pursue your creative calling. Best known locally as the marketing manager at Zimbali Lakes, Christina has just published her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":41416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[479,20],"tags":[13060,13059,10284,13061,13062,4346],"class_list":{"0":"post-41415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-people","8":"category-personalities","9":"tag-anthology","10":"tag-christina-wiese","11":"tag-debut","12":"tag-poems","13":"tag-poetic-conversations","14":"tag-poetry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The courage to create - Get It Ballito &amp; Umhlanga<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/getitmagazine.co.za\/ballito-umhlanga\/blog\/2025\/12\/01\/the-courage-to-create\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The courage to create - Get It Ballito &amp; Umhlanga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ballito\u2019s Christina Wiese has released her first book of poetry and is excited to share her work \u2013 a heartfelt collection exploring love and loss. 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