Writing Is My Happy Place, Mental Illness Or Not

Welcome to my fog-brained, spinning-headed, dizzy-lizzy Saturday! Last night I upped the new meds, as per Pdoc’s directions, and now my head is spinning again. Twirling like a top, I have to keep deleting words that I have misspelled or just written in a completely bizarre way. The only thing I can think of to compare this to is a really big dose of laughing gas at the dentist, but without the laughing. I’ve never tried illegal drugs, so I don’t have anything to compare there.

owly greenpurple

Each time you add to your meds, the side effects bloom and then, if you’re a good match, they subside to a more manageable level. You’re never truly free of the mental illness, and you’re never completely free of the side effects. You just hope you can drive a car, do something in your life that holds some meaning for you, and have relationships with the important people in your life without too much pain.

I feel like I’m made of wet sponge, my head all floppy, my arms and legs not wanting to move where I ask them. My mind is happily relaxed, free of voices except my own. I have a metallic taste in my mouth. I feel like writing.

Writing is my place of peace, joy, love, life, meaning. It’s the one thing that I can always do, no matter what my head is doing. I have a new story pushing its way out of my heart and head, through my fingers. It’s a novel, but I can’t tell you any more than that right now. To share is, sometimes, to mess with the flow, the process. I’m a head down, bum up fast writer once I have my main character.

be you xx Rachel

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Head Writing & Heart Writing

Everyone has a book in them. Some writing comes from our head and some comes from our heart.

Head Writing produces information, facts, knowledge and advice.

Heart Writing produces an emotional response, feelings of connection and it can truly inspire the reader.

The best writing is what I call Hybrid Writing; a combination of Head Writing and Heart Writing.

If you’re too much in your head, you run the risk of creating cold, factual content that has little appeal to a reader.

If you write exclusively from your heart, you risk your content becoming oversentimental, overpersonalised and selfobsessed.

There is an easy way to ensure balance in your writing: Hybrid Writing. I talk about this style of writing in my Writing Workshops and Courses and in my Author Consultations. Let me know if you’re interested.

rachel