Reclaiming my voice

Yesterday I took part in a storytelling workshop run by FDAMH (Falkirk's Mental Health Association) as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. I was invited along to share my experiences of mental health, particularly on how writing helped me reclaim my identity.  

I'm a novelist and through my novels I've always sought to give a voice to people who perhaps aren't heard in our society. Both of my novels were written whilst I worked part-time as a primary teacher - a job I was always extremely passionate about.

And then 4 years ago I was involved in a traumatic accident in my classroom. The accident left me in chronic physical pain and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.  I became withdrawn and struggled daily with depression and anxiety. I lost all sense of myself and my self-worth.
I no longer had any interest in writing. I'd lost my voice.

But then two things happened, almost simultaneously. 
I was attending a pain management course at Astley Ainslie, which looked at both physical and mental health, and I attended my first Woo'er with Words spoken word event in Falkirk. 
As part of the pain management course we were asked to visualise our pain as something concrete with the idea of using this image to release the pain. 
I was inspired by the poets and writers at Woo'er with Words and I decided to write a poem based on the visualisation technique. 

This turned out to be the first of a series of poems. You can read more here.
I'd reclaimed my voice.

This was the first step towards rediscovering my love of writing. I'm now completing my Masters in Creative Writing at Stirling University and I love getting the chance to write full time. I regularly go along to Woo'er with Words, and hope that one day I might inspire someone else.

Janet reading one of her own poems to the group

​Yesterday's event in Falkirk was busy and the group was made up of men and women of all ages. Our lovely host, Janet Crawford, created an open and safe place for people to write in and it was inspiring to see some people read their work for the first time.

I'd like to thank Janet for inviting me along to share my work and present an exercise, and I'd like to thank FDAMH for organising a fantastic week of events. Yesterday was a clear example of the great work they do!