Sunday 10th October was World Mental Health Day.
I’ve never made any particular secret about my depressive episodes, which were eventually diagnosed as SAD Seasonal Effective Disorder). It was during those dark times that I started journalling, recording my feelings on paper.
In today’s blog, author Elizabeth Holland talks about her journey and how it led to channelling her creativity:
Although I’ve written most of my life, I’d never really considered myself a creative person until I finished writing my first book. From there, it’s been as though a whole new world has opened for me. Creativity means so much to me. It’s saved me from some of my darker days with depression and anxiety. My writing journey began when I was suffering from depression and I started blogging about my journey. At the time, I didn’t realise I was channelling my creativity and creating an outlet for myself. Looking back, I now know it was a way of expressing my emotions and challenging myself. It gave me something to focus on rather than my own problems. Writing has also shown me that I can be creative in so many ways. These days, you’ll find me either frantically tapping away at my laptop, trying to get my ideas down on paper, or I’m upcycling furniture. For so many years, I lacked a creative outlet, and my emotions bottled up inside of me.
We’re all creative in our own ways. It’s just some of us might have to dig a little deeper to find our creativity. As a writer, there is nothing more thrilling than creating my own world and disappearing into it. I love the first story I wrote, but I also find it incredibly painful when I read it back. It’s unpublished and is likely to remain that way. I poured a lot of my own experiences and emotions into that book and I think I want to keep to myself. Perhaps one day a heavily edited version of it will see the light of day.
After finishing writing my first book, I realised I could write anything I wanted and create as many worlds as I could think of. My mind boggled at the thought of this. If I was having a bad day, I could just escape into anywhere I could think of. My published books focus on escapism and mental health. I have two books which broach the brutal realities of suffering with mental health. Whereas my other three published books are an escape from everyday life, they were written with the intention of pulling the reader from their own mind and into the book. I write to give both myself and my readers a break from real life.
I owe a lot to my writing. It’s given me a new sense of purpose and it’s given me the ability to channel those darker emotions into something beautiful. October is a particularly difficult month for me, but now I channel my spare time into writing. It’s so satisfying seeing something so awful being turned into something good.
About Elizabeth Holland
Elizabeth Holland is a keen writer and reader of romance novels. She enjoys the escapism of picking up a book and transporting yourself into a new world. With her mind bursting with lots of different stories, Elizabeth is exploring the world of self-publishing her novels.
Elizabeth has written a variety of books with some focusing on mental health. At the heart of all of her novels is the pursuit of happiness.
Website :https://elizabethhollandauthor.com
Blog: https://anxietyandliz.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethHollandAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EHollandAuthor
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