Suzy Davies's Blog: Book News - Posts Tagged "journaling"
International Happiness Day - Writing Can Make You Happy!
This is the day when people around the world celebrate being happy. But what is happiness? Does it just exist out there to be taken, or do we have to learn how to create our own happiness? And if the latter is true, then how do we become happier and healthier in our lives?
My idea is a personal one, and comes from my own personal experience of creating joy from writing.
My first book, "Johari's Window," is a romance novel with a dark side. I wrote it when I was "getting over" some difficult experiences in my life, and I was also aware that I was venturing toward the light, and better times ahead.
As I wrote the first chapter of "Johari's Window," I revisited one of the happiest times of my life, my early childhood in Wales, when I was surrounded by nature, and close to the ocean. I also "experienced again" my relationship with my late paternal grandmother, a wonderful, spiritual woman, and a bird-whisperer, who has been a constant enduring influence on me and my life.
The difficult part of "Johari's Window" was when I wrote through the pain I had experienced in my life, and, in a sense, in the process of writing, I had to relive these times, when, to be honest, life sometimes was a trial, and I did not know how I would see another day. These were times when I was emotionally withdrawn, and socially isolated, and to get through to another day was my only ambition. I was operating in survival mode, but survive to tell the tale, I did.
Once I had written out the darkest of chapters, I felt a sense of relief, and of being heard for the first time. I looked at my situation again with an objective eye, and I even felt proud of myself for hanging on through the bad times, and making the best of it. I felt empathy for myself, and began to cultivate a deeper knowledge of who I was and what I needed to be happy. I even forgave myself for the mistakes I had made.
Towards the end of "Johari's Window" the mood is more wistful than melancholy, and I am in South Korea, in this dream-like landscape with Cherry Blossoms.
For me, these flowers capture the transient nature of happiness, and, at the same time, reassure us that happiness will come around again.
But a constant thread in my life is the joy of writing. When I write, my ink is the happiness that flows in my veins.
My idea is a personal one, and comes from my own personal experience of creating joy from writing.
My first book, "Johari's Window," is a romance novel with a dark side. I wrote it when I was "getting over" some difficult experiences in my life, and I was also aware that I was venturing toward the light, and better times ahead.
As I wrote the first chapter of "Johari's Window," I revisited one of the happiest times of my life, my early childhood in Wales, when I was surrounded by nature, and close to the ocean. I also "experienced again" my relationship with my late paternal grandmother, a wonderful, spiritual woman, and a bird-whisperer, who has been a constant enduring influence on me and my life.
The difficult part of "Johari's Window" was when I wrote through the pain I had experienced in my life, and, in a sense, in the process of writing, I had to relive these times, when, to be honest, life sometimes was a trial, and I did not know how I would see another day. These were times when I was emotionally withdrawn, and socially isolated, and to get through to another day was my only ambition. I was operating in survival mode, but survive to tell the tale, I did.
Once I had written out the darkest of chapters, I felt a sense of relief, and of being heard for the first time. I looked at my situation again with an objective eye, and I even felt proud of myself for hanging on through the bad times, and making the best of it. I felt empathy for myself, and began to cultivate a deeper knowledge of who I was and what I needed to be happy. I even forgave myself for the mistakes I had made.
Towards the end of "Johari's Window" the mood is more wistful than melancholy, and I am in South Korea, in this dream-like landscape with Cherry Blossoms.
For me, these flowers capture the transient nature of happiness, and, at the same time, reassure us that happiness will come around again.
But a constant thread in my life is the joy of writing. When I write, my ink is the happiness that flows in my veins.
Book News
"The Flamingos Who Painted The Sky," our new picture book is NOW fully available to bring in #Christmas #sunshine, #flamingo #sunsets, and #happiness #worldwide Illustrated by the talented Shirin Mass ...more
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