Juan Blea thinks in English, but feels in Spanish; where the two meet is the source of who he is.
Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 28th, 1971, Spanish was his first language; it was the language of home for him; English was the language of the outside world. By the time he entered elementary school, Juan also spoke English, and it became clear to him that he had to survive in two realities. Language was the mechanism by which both realities operated. It was a good lesson to learn. Juan’s life and career have always been a balancing act between seemingly disparate realities but language has always been his survival tool.
Juan holds a Master’s in Education, is a Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor (NM #0128871), and a licensed Continuing Education provider (NM #0139471). It is his life’s mission to assist others in their healing journey.
When he was twelve, Juan discovered that writing provided a means by which he could utilize language to merge his thoughts and feelings in the most expressive manner. He fell in love with literature during high school and soon wrote and self-published his first novella, Under the Same Sky.
Five years later, his first novel, Butterfly Warrior (Western Edge Press, 2006) was released. Since then, his work has appeared in a number of journals, most notably in Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul. In November 2013, Juan released his personal story of overcoming depression, Journey to Aztlan.
Too often people either forget, or never realize the power of their own stories. Juan believes with his entire being that people can learn to step back and look at their strength in simply surviving. His hope is that we all learn to see that our lives are the source of the strength needed to rise up against the waves of oppression we so often cause for ourselves. Juan calls this source “Aztlan,” after the mythical homeland of the Chicano people.
Juan truly believes people want healthy lives, and that sometimes they just don’t know how to achieve that health, especially if they suffer from depression, anxiety, and/or addiction. It is Juan’s mission to teach people that they can have a healthy life; it’s not far away.
