Moving Past Pain: Kiara Durham

“I have planned out… maybe not on paper, but I have a thought, or an idea, of what I want to do.”  A mystery in the shape of a young woman, she lives through her days and nights on the idea that no matter her past, all she has left is to go forward.  Her history is simply schools and summers, with no particular outstanding year.  Her family moved from Chicago to South Minneapolis before arriving at a neighborhood within the borders of East Ridge, where she currently attends school.

The dark-skinned teen laughed at her “chunky girl” days in third grade.  She grew up to be tall and slim, pleased that she didn’t have to do a thing to lose weight but sleep her summer away.  But it was no laughing matter when she found out her uncommon sleeping habits were not the result of laziness or boredom, but of a serious chronic disease otherwise known as Fibromyalgia.  The sleeping was another way of diverting the growing pains she found in several muscles in her body, including dangerous headaches.

Chronic, meaning long-time, implies the danger of a painful disease that may seriously hurt her plans for the future.  It seems as if everything she’s aimed for, especially her favorite hobby of capturing the beauty of nature on film, has hit a roadblock. Kiara, not to be deterred, faces the disease head on with therapists and treatments.  She now participates in regular sessions with a chiropractor, ready to take on anything to keep herself moving forward.

Kiara has big plans for the future and is ready to work hard to complete her dream.  She aspires to become a photographer in the future, or perhaps a part of the fashion industry.  “If I can’t make it in art, writing is what I want to do next, definitely.”   In order to begin her journey as an upcoming successful designer she mentioned her plan to become part of a college for the arts as a senior, through PSEOs or College in School classes.  “I’m complicated.”  She says with a cheerful grin.  “And I have the life to go along with it.”