INSPIRATION

WITHIN ME

I’ve not always been me. Does this mean I’ve been someone other than Bobbeth Colebrook or that I’ve not always been a writer? No, but somehow I have always managed to alienate myself from me. A lot of who I was and what I wrote was inspired by the person I thought I should be. Upon reflection, I never truly understood what it meant to be myself. I had always felt like a divided being, clueless about who I was. Facing unprecedented scenarios, I reacted in the ways of a different version of myself everyday. This got me thinking - maybe there are different versions of me.

As badly as I’d like to stop living my life something like James McAvoy in Split, I think it’s pretty cool having different sides to me. I think that’s what makes my writing; but mostly me, unique. On top of that, I’m not even sure if my doppelgängers want to leave me anyway. We have so much fun together!

Regardless of that, allow me to introduce you to the sides of me who have inspired this domain...

Bobalina

The most well-behaved of them all, she coined the phrase: “Life is like a sheet of paper - blank”. My sweet and sensitive Bahamian princess was born to loving, middle-class parents and was raised in a Baptist Church. She remains poised and kind to whomever she meets. You know what they say: Do unto others...

I promise you, Bobalina couldn’t hurt a fly (mostly because flies are really hard to catch, but you get the point). She steered most of my childhood and was the face people met when they saw me. If you did not absolutely love her, YOU were the problem.

I remember her having this thick book filled with poetry that she happily shared with her family, friends, and anyone willing to listen. She was very inspired, hopeful, a hell of a lot naive, but book-smart. She always fit in and valued perfection. My sweet Bobalina remains the apple of everyone’s eye - the star girl, who parents and associates brag about to their work friends.

Leronda

Here’s this goofy bitch. Leronda didn’t make her debut until High School, and that was for the best! She’s the scatterbrained zany who spits all the insane thoughts in her brain without thinking about it. She’s unconventional, extremely bubbly, and totally unafraid of judgment. Needless to say, that is why people love her. I mean she does the worst British accent, but her confidence is what brings it to life! You can’t help but appreciate her pizzazz. As a matter of fact, she is the personification of confidence. Unafraid of failure and not fitting in, Leronda grabs life by the balls and wagers everything.

She pushed me through many speech and writing competitions growing up. She made me go on dates with people I barely liked and party with people we didn’t know. With her help, we created the most iconic memories; many of which shall never see the light of day, but are legendary either way. The most incredible part about Leronda is that she does all of this while being unequivocally intoxicated. God bless her liquor and God bless all things Leronda!

Bessii

You don’t have to say it! We know. No one spells ‘Bessie’ this way. But guess what! We don’t care! Bessii is the epitome of growth and accepting who you are. While Leronda may be unhinged in her ridiculousness and Bobalina may be secure in her perfection, Bessii is the perfect balance of spontaneity and excellence. The evolution that rests in her is something I have great hope in. She is beyond the grasp of the falsities of perfection. She is out of reach from the stagnancy of indiscipline. She is the embodiment of all things adult, but please don’t get me wrong - she still hates adulting. Actually, we all hate adulting. #WeHateItHere.

Never mind that, Bessii makes the best out of every situation and finds a way to make things work. She is the completion to Bobalina’s phrase: “Life is like a sheet of paper - blank.” … Blank until you decide to pick up a pen and write on it. The most driven of them all, Bessii drags me out of bed everyday and makes me write. Without her, I don’t know if I would’ve made it through some of the worst times in my life.

The Legend of
Bianca

Every time I think she’s gone, Bianca makes a grand entrance. As the ailment of my humanity, Bianca creeps her way out of every bound I put her in. Highly volatile, she rips through everything like a toddler on steroids. No bounds can hold the sharpness of her tongue. Bianca is a hopeless soul, afflicted by disappointment and failure. She was the girl on stage who so confidently choked on a prose reading when everyone had confidence in her winning. She is the girl who has faced many heartbreaks, time and time again. Her pain fuels the torture she releases, with pleasure, on anyone in her path.

Bianca lurks in the shadows of my unconscious waiting for her moment to doom us all. Sometimes, when the girls and I are weak, she uses that to her advantage, reeking havoc. Although I keep her locked up tight, I try not to let her go to waste. Her passion is inebriating and exciting. It gives me the drive I need to push through bad days. While she’s the darkest part of my soul, I can sometimes still feel a glow in her heart.

MY NAME

Although I’ve struggled with my doppelgängers a lot over the years, they have inspired my re-creation. Bobbeth is more than a compound name of Bob and Beth. And, to answer the inevitable question - no. My name is not derived from my parents’ names - Robert and Tonia. Bobbeth is distinctively mine. My name represents an eccentric conglomerate of talents, emotions, ideas, and more. It speaks to that which seems out of reach, but is resting within you.

You may not reduce me to any one of my doppelgängers, because I am much more than each. However, they are the sacred force within me. For whichever of these names you choose to call me, I will answer to all… EXCEPT for Bianca.