Corky Henderson founded M.ind O.ver M.atter (MOM) in 2007. After a spiritual awakening, he took on the pen name Healing. Having worked in healthcare, he recognized the gaps in our country’s approach to health and wellness, which became the mantra and vision for M.O.M. In his book Journey to Consciousness Affirmations of Healing, his collection of poetry, poems, and affirmations touches on everyday experiences had by all.
PrideIndex (PI): Tell me about yourself and your journey thus far.
Healing: I was born and raised in Chicago. I lived in Atlanta, New York, and in California. I relocated and returned to Chicago in 2013. I started writing as early as the age of fourteen. It was mostly poetry, then I began to delve into writing positive affirmations around 2009. Since then, I have been doing both. I met a few people who suggested that I put them all together into a book. I had a mentor named Chuma. He walked me through the process and helped me publish my own book. I self-published my first book, M.ind O.ver M.atter, The Awakening in October 2015. My second book, The Journey to Consciousness, Affirmations of Healing, is currently on Amazon in Kindle format. I will have physical copies within the next couple of weeks.
PI: You have hit on two things I found very interesting. One was self-publishing, and the second, this is your second book. I was under the impression that this was your first book. Please forgive me for being tardy to the party. What attracted you to this genre?
Healing: In 2007, I had a spiritual awakening. I was raised in the Christian faith, traditionally attending Baptist churches. But there came a time when I had so many questions that were unanswered through the mentors I had in that faith. I started praying and asked these questions of myself, which sparked a whole new arm of my journey, and it switched direction. It didn’t go in the opposite direction but expanded more on who God is, who we are, in connection to God and each other, and what it all means. I was working at this job as a credit repair specialist, and a guy was training me. I saw that he had several books on spirituality and consciousness on his desk, and I asked about them. They also pertained to different levels of truth. He allowed me to read a couple of his books, and we discussed them. That opened my entire world when it came to religion and spirituality. That sparked my whole crusade to really know the truth, the truth about myself, the truth about God, and the truth about why we are here. This has all been expressed through the affirmations and poetry that I have written from that point forward. This then became the crux of both the first and the second books.
PI: From what I know about you, I assumed you were into physical fitness and would have written about something about fitness or something in that genre. Are you into fitness, or are you simply blessed with a six-pack?
Healing: Interestingly, you ask that question. Am I into fitness? Yes, of course. M.ind O.ver M.atter is the company I started in 2007 because I wanted to address health and wellness holistically. When I started, the fitness piece was the primary focus. I was laid off from a job then, and I needed to figure out how to make money to pay my bills. So, I went into training and did that for a while. In addition to writing, I also managed an online health and wellness store. I have since returned to corporate America and didn’t have time to do the fitness piece the way I used to back in 2007. I still try to keep my fitness up but I have only trained a little since 2009. It has been a minute.
PI: Why, then, is spirituality, health, and wellness important to you?
Healing: My truth is that we are three-part beings. We are mind, we are body, and we are soul. The way that this country has approached health and wellness has been primarily from the physical, the body parts. There is less investment in our spiritual or mental aspects than in the physical. My approach addresses each part of who we are equally and where they are balanced. I decided to put more focus on the mental and the spiritual parts. It became MOM going forward is about the message in the poetry and the positive affirmation that feel right.
PI: You are also a poet. What are other things that you speak about other than wellness and well-being?
Healing: The poems are inspired by life experiences. They speak to several areas we deal with in life, like love, family, economic advancement, and relationships. Those are the subjects of the poems. The affirmations are things that most people can relate to because they are general aspects of life that we all go through or experience.
PI: Do you perform on the poetry circuit at all?
Healing: It is something that I have yet to do too much. I did an open mic session at DePaul University a few years ago. Other than that, I have not done much at all, but it is something that I have started to be open to.
PI: Name three people that have had the most influence over your artistic style.
Healing: One would have to be Langston Hughes. He is my favorite poet and author of all time. My father, Michael Henderson, and Theresa Shackelford, my mother. I can’t think of anyone else that has substantially impacted my writing.
PI: What are you working on right now?
Healing: I have written a book that has been sent to print. I am now working on the marketing campaign for the book. That is my side thing right now. My primary nine-to-five is IT project management, and I have a couple of contracts that I am working on for that as well. Those are the two things that I am working on right now.
PI: As an IT person, do you dream in the binary language?
Healing: I do not. No.
PI: There’s much more than just zeros and ones, huh?
Healing: Fortunately or unfortunately, that’s not how my brain works. Because I use a decent amount of my left and right brains, I understand the inner workings enough to lead a project. But as far as the hands-on work, that’d be another person. The zeros and ones.
PI: Where else do you plan to promote this book?
Healing: I plan to do a book signing at home or at a venue. I am still deciding. It will likely be a small gathering at my house. Depending on the guest list, I suggest another platform on the south side of Chicago.
PI: If someone wanted to know more about you, your book, or your work, have you come out and signed your book, or have you read your poetry? What should they do?
Healing: They can contact me in any number of ways. They can go to my website, momonline.us, which has a synopsis of who I am, an analysis of the first book, and then now that the second book is out, that will also be added to the site. That is the best way to get a feel for who I am, what the book is about, and what my organization’s objectives are. Another way to contact me is on Facebook. I have a personal page (Corky Henderson) and a business page (M.ind O.ver M.atter). I am also on Twitter (Corky Henderson) and Instagram (healin313), which I don’t use as much. Those are a few ways to contact me. I usually hand out business cards to promote my business or book.
The book is available on Amazon (hardcopy and kindle) and Barnes & Noble.
