This is a personal memoir and poetry collection by Ina R Bochian. Ina is
a Romanian-American visual artist, writer, journalist, actress, and
designer from Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from University of
Illinois at Chicago where she studied English, Psychology, and Criminal
Justice. Upon graduation, Ina went on to work for Northwestern
University for a few years, but then transitioned into the arts. After
experiencing sexual assault, she went on a "healing journey" and
discovered life beyond pain. Taking a leap of faith, she went to New
York to seek out the help of James Franco, who helped her express her
experiences creatively through artwork and poetry. Franco encouraged Ina
to write and had faith in her abilities when she felt insignificant.
With the actor's help, and other mentors she met during her journey,
Ina's confidence grew. She started painting and writing, selling her
work, and also writing for some publications, including Scene Chicago.
Ina also worked on several television shows and movies, including six
years on the show Empire, where she was featured in a non-speaking role
for all six seasons. After working on the show, Ina went on to write her
own scripts and a TV pilot, currently in development. Ina found her
purpose, passion, and love, as she fought to have her voice heard, but
bullies terrorized her online. Just as she gained more courage to be
herself, her social media was flooded with hundreds of comments from an
anonymous source who sent her hate mail. The taunting comments and
stalking did not stop online, but were followed by harassing phone
calls, rumors that cost her a few jobs in the industry, and
impersonating accounts whose sole mission was to destroy any chance Ina
had of working in the entertainment industry. Most of the time, her
bullies wanted to intimidate her by mocking her looks, Romanian
ethnicity, Jewish background, and relationship (which she keeps
private). Later these comments turned into hate mail encouraging her to
take her life, which caused her a great deal of anxiety and fear of
social media. Ina never gave up. Instead, she tried to turn negative
situations into something positive through her charity work for
organizations. While raising awareness about depression, anxiety, and
anti-bullying, Ina met photographer Jason M. Peterson, who also
encouraged her to follow her creative pursuits. Rather than being
silenced, Ina turned to her faith and wrote this book as part of a
40-day fast.
