100 Creatives: Rune Lazuli Inspires Thousands With Her Words

In honor of our annual MasterMind Awards, which reward Miami's creative talent with citywide recognition and sweet, sweet cash, New Times proudly presents "100 Creatives," where we feature the 305's cultural superheroes. Want to be a MasterMind? Learn how to enter here, and get your tickets to Artopia on March 2, where we'll announce the winners.

#78. Rune Lazuli

It all happened the day she decided she was going to delete her Instagram account. But then she received a notification.

“I was in school all day and got back home,” Rune Lazuli recalls. “I had posted something on Facebook, and someone commented, ‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Lady Gaga reposted your work.’” As she eagerly searched through the superstar’s Instagram page, there it was — Lazuli's words posted for millions to see across the globe: “Crawl inside this body — find me where I am most ruined, love me there.”

Written from a place of both love and pain (which the poet credits as sources of inspiration), these words — like the rest of her writing — which comforted her at one point, were now doing the same for literally millions, including Gaga.

“I felt honored,” the 25-year-old humbly says. “[For] this woman who has seen so much artwork in her life and is a phenomenal artist herself to post my writing, I just felt honored.”

Lady Gaga is among the celebrities — including rock star Alice Cooper and supermodel Iman — and thousands of others who have found solace in Lazuli’s work. But she was never taught to write poetry or prose; she never took a writing class and never had a mentor who discovered her natural-born talent. For the scribe, gathering thoughts through pen and paper was simply an escape.

“I grew up not being very social at all,” she reflects. “Reading was something I really enjoyed, and writing was something that came naturally from reading so much, and it was something I just stuck to. I grew up in a very, very strict household. I wasn’t allowed to do much, and writing was an escape.”

Though writing is something Lazuli has been doing ever since she can remember, it wasn’t until “six or seven years ago” that the Hollywood native really began taking her talent seriously.

“[It all happened when] I started to become more spiritual — not from a religious standpoint, but more of a free-flowing spirituality that wasn’t attached to any specific belief,” she explains. “When I started reading more into metaphysics and following your heart, it shifted. And I stopped believing [those who would tell me] I couldn’t write and just followed my heart.”

It was a liberating decision she made for herself, but little did Lazuli know that just a few years down the road, she would become a source of hope for thousands around the world. At last check, she had close to 71,000 followers on Instagram (her account has since been deleted) and almost 3,000 Facebook followers.

Though she has thousands of fans, Lazuli says she's not in it for the attention. Her work is all about providing comfort for those who are suffering through life’s many obstacles.

“Writing is how I’m going to have that impact,” she says. “Being able to give that to somebody, even a second of relief and understanding, that saves me and makes me so happy. Nothing can bring me more happiness than to know that something that helps and heals me is helping and healing somebody else.”

List five things that inspire you:
Love; pain — just the lessons that we learn from it, that is a huge part of my work; spirituality is definitely a big one; the evolution of the human consciousness; and women.

What was your last big project?
My last big completed project was my first show at Libertine in May. I organized the entire thing myself. It was the first time I was onstage for an hour showcasing my poetry the way that I did.

What’s your next big project?
[I’m working on a] book. It’s a collection of poetry and prose.

What do you want Miami to know about you? What don’t you want Miami to know about you?
What I don’t want people to know and what I do want people to know is the same thing. A lot of my work is metaphysical and spiritual — how to get through a tough time, how to transcend your emotions, how to become a stronger person. A lot of people think I’m some saint, and I’m not. I deal with so many struggles, so many challenges. I want people to know I’m not perfect and deal with big challenges that are very difficult. My life, every day, is a battle and a fight to stay grounded and to keep my head from floating out into the sky. It’s what I do want people to know and at the same time what I don’t want people to know. I deal with pain, and it’s hard to be open about it.

What’s one thing you want people to know about Miami?
Put aside South Beach and the clubs and the party scene, and [you’ll find] these magical pockets here and there that make Miami so beautiful. There’s a beautiful spiritual community here of people who want to help. There’s so much talent and creativity.