I’m Rising: Determined. Confident. Powerful is a collection of poetic writing on themes such as self-love and personal empowerment and was penned by author Michelle G Stradford. A sequel to ‘When Love Rises’, this next installment in the genre encourages strength through facing adversity with resilience and discovering and displaying one’s own inner power. The work is divided into three thematic sections with more than thirty written works in each: Challenges, Evolving and Rising, which describes the process that the reader can go through in order to experience real personal change. What results is an emotive and inspirational journey through both the author’s own experiences and the inward-looking encouragement of self-discovery.

One of the things I found most impressive about this well-written collection from author Michelle G Stradford was the way in which it is both about her and not about her at the same moment. Stradford writes and gives of herself and her personal feelings without making herself the character in each narrative, instead holding experience up as a mirror for the reader to relate to, accept or reject as they please, and therefore learn from. Most of my favorite poems came from the Evolving section, where changes of perspective are most challenged and noticed and the self was set free to explore and choose new paths to follow. Overall, I’m Rising: Determined. Confident. Powerful is sure to be a useful motivational tool that any reader can turn to for reminders of their worth and important mantras to carry with them in every situation.

I'm Rising: Determined. Confident. Powerful by Michelle G Stradford is the second in a series of poetry books by Michelle. Having read her earlier book, When Love Rises, and enjoyed it, I was looking forward to reading this one. This book also exceeded my expectations and, in this collection, Michelle focuses on strength and self-empowerment. She starts off with a short introduction to what inspired the poems in this collection and her own life journey that led to her composing them. The poems in this book are then organized under three main sections called Challenges, Evolving, and Rising and each of these sections contains many poems exploring this theme. Overall, the poems are inspired by the spirit of resilience and taking one’s own power back, fighting for what one needs, overcoming obstacles and fears that hold one back, growing and learning through these experiences, and ultimately rising above them to be completely your own person.

I really liked I'm Rising and thought this was a great sequel to the earlier book. The theme of self-empowerment is great and it is much needed. It is even more relevant in today’s world where women have a voice to speak up against millennia of continuous patriarchy and all of the power-induced violations that go along with it. The #metoo movement is just one step in that direction and so I found the poems in this book to be moving, with a strong undertone of courage and strength. Women have always had these attributes and now they are able to express them, and this is conveyed wonderfully through these poems. Michelle's writing style is empathetic and strong and some of my favorite poems in this book are from the Rising section, such as The New She (Or He), Fierce, Self-Love, and more. This is a great poetry collection!

Second in the Rising series, I'm Rising: Determined. Confident. Powerful by Michelle G Stradford collects uplifting poems that inspire growth, self-awareness, and strength. The collection is divided into three parts: Challenges, Evolving and Rising, each part denoting a stage of growth. The first poem captures the heart of the messages in the collection: “These are my/ Ordinary moments/ My failures/ Heartbreaks/ My joyful messy/ The extraordinary/ Triumphs.” From despair and pain, the poems move forward to experiences of finding one’s voice and rising above the challenges of life and discouraging moments. They are uplifting in many ways, proving that anyone can grow from situations in life and become stronger and wiser.

The poems’ structures are diverse. The free-verse poems allow freedom in the choice of words the poet uses. Strong language that is carefully selected and used arouses emotions and aids imagination. End-rhymes used in the collection accentuate the meaning of the verses and make the poems lyrical: “I bathe in healing rain/ Fold up fear inside a prayer/ I laugh to numb the pain/ A cure’s out there somewhere.” In the first part, the narrator bares her feelings of discouragement and frustration. In other parts, the focus shifts to thoughts that reflect the belief in herself, the realization that her opinion counts as she continues to strive to become who she was meant to be. The tone used is friendly and the words are inviting, which creates a connection to the work and the messages within the poems. I'm Rising by Michelle G Stradford is an encouraging collection that resonates through its powerful words.

I'm Rising: Determined. Confident. Powerful by Michelle G Stradford is a collection of encouraging and invigorating poems that will give readers an instantaneous boost to get up and conquer the day. From the very first poem, “Challenges,” to the last one, “I’m Rising,” the author gives ample opportunities to readers to find their inner strength, get up, crawl, walk and fly, but never give up. Fighting inner demons can be hard, but when one has confidence in one's abilities, one can do whatever one sets their mind to achieve. The author has divided the poems into three parts, Challenges, Evolving and Rising, and tackles these categories in a simple yet powerful way. There are more than 120 poems in this book and each of them is a gem.

I am so grateful that more authors are taking a stand in sharing the message of self-love and self-appreciation with their readers. Michelle Stradford has done it in a very powerful way that speaks to the heart and makes a home there. I loved the fact that she dedicated the book to her daughters because women often forget themselves and don’t let their potential bloom, often giving that opportunity to someone else in their lives. But the best thing about her poetry is that it doesn’t prefer one gender; her words are carefully chosen and applied so that they can give strength and motivation to all. Her narrative is very simple, which makes it easy to digest. As the flow is very comprehensible, it becomes approachable to all. Exceptional!