Guest Series: Writing About Mental Health and Cancer Survivorship by Sam Rose

Today's guest post is by writer Sam Rose, an amazing woman who has survived cancer and blogs about her experience. Here is her post:

Writing About Mental Health and Cancer Survivorship

While I was making notes on how I might approach writing this blog post, I jotted down “talk about writing in the context of dealing with cancer survivorship”. But the truth is, these days I find myself writing about little else. Cancer has had a huge effect on my body, my mental health, and subsequently my creative work.

I had colon cancer in 2010 when I was 22. The offending organ was whipped out but since then I have had yearly screenings and check-ups, as well as a handful of scares and other unrelated health issues to worry about – all fear-inducing, but luckily leading to nothing sinister so far. When these things happen (or even when they don’t), it can really take its toll on my emotional state. Over the last seven years I’ve dealt with varying degrees of nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, and poor self-confidence.

I Have Been Nominated for The Sunshine Award 2018!

I cannot believe that I am writing this post. The wonderful Kate Carter at thetustingirl.com nominated me for the Sunshine Award 2018! Thank you so much to her for nominating me and for all of my readers for visiting and commenting on my blog. I have discovered that I love blogging and I really hope that people are finding my posts helpful.  There are 4 rules to follow for this nomination:

1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you for the blog post and link back to their blog.

2. Answer the 11 questions that the blogger asked you.

3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 questions.

4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or blog.

So, here are my answers to Kate’s questions:

1.       Why did you start your blog?

I started my blog because I originally had a bookstagram and then a booktube. I discovered book blogging and fell in love. I have always been passionate about writing and I had tried blogging in the past. Writing and reading are two central parts of my life and as I began writing my blog I found a passion for writing about mental health and I was encouraged to post my own creative writing too. Blogging makes me so happy and I am so grateful for all the amazing, friendly and supportive people that I have found because of it.

Guest Series: Mental Health & Creativity. Thoughts on my Anxiety by Book Blogger Jen

Hello everyone, it is time for another guest post in the guest series: mental health & creativity. Today, we have another brave individual who has decided to share her story. I relate so much to a lot of the points that she makes and she is definitely not alone. I will leave her links below so feel free to check her out. She is a wonderful book blogger. So, here is Jen's story.

Thoughts on my anxiety.

How much can you blame anxiety for? Can I blame it for the lack of writing I’ve done over the years? Or more accurately, that all I have to show for my ambition is many unfinished stories and novels. Someone could say that I was lazy. I could blame an over enthusiastic inner critic or a lack of self belief. But when anxiety and worry creeps into your mind you can’t concentrate on anything else. You can’t switch off and get into your story world and even when it eases, your mind is so tired that trying to do anything actually makes you feel anxious again. In the past it has been bad, I think it’s better now although some days when it comes back it feels like this is a lie and that I haven’t managed to deal with my anxiety at all. (When it comes back, I’ve just realised what I wrote, it never goes away, it’s there daily but I’m so used to it and there are times when it’s very bad.)

Mental Health: Being in the Now

I was recently feeling down and slightly anxious when a couple of people in my life reminded me that I need to focus on the now. I have goals that range from medium-term (like being able to go to the gym) to long-term (like getting my dream home) and sometimes the fact that these are so far away and seem almost unattainable can trigger my mental health to dip. So, I made a list of all the things that I can focus on in the now and hopefully whilst I am focusing on these things, I will reach my goals. Here is my list:

Blogging

My current read

Current game/s that I am playing

Walking

My book club

Spending time with loved ones

Creative writing which includes poetry, short stories and novel writing

It can be so difficult to focus on the now but I am going to keep looking at my list and reminding myself that this is what I need to be doing. Hopefully, everything else will fall into place. What is on your now list?

All of the Books on my TBR

This is probably one of the most difficult blog posts for a book blogger to display but I am not perfect. I am on a journey to read all of the amazing books out there: to explore new worlds, characters and plots and to hopefully improve my writing skills along the way. I have categorised all of my unread books by genre. So, here is a list of all of the unread books that I currently own:

Manga

Blue Exorcist volume 3 by Kazue Kato

Fullmetal Alchemist volumes 5 and 6 by Hiromu Arakawa

Fairy Tail volumes 1 & 2 by Hiro Mashima

One Piece volumes 1-3 by Eiichiro Oda

Tegami Bachi volumes 1-5 by Hiroyuki Asada

Seraph of the End volume 1 written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamato

All You Need Is Kill written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka with illustrations by Yoshitoshi ABe

Tokyo Mew Mew volumes 1-6 written by Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Mia Ikumi

Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases by Nisio Isin (a novel based on the manga)

My Stomach Hurts: Living with IBS

Alongside my mental health conditions, I also have IBS. IBS is a digestive condition which can be related to anxiety and depression. It can also be caused by eating certain foods that your body does not agree with, these are called triggers. IBS produces a variety of symptoms, including stomach pain. There are times when IBS symptoms can become worse, these are called flares. My IBS can flare when I’m stressed or anxious. I wanted to talk about this because lately my stomach has been hurting a lot. If you have any symptoms, please visit your doctor.

Sometimes, it feels like having a constant stomach bug. Other times, like continuous cramps. I don’t always have symptoms but I do usually get them after meals, especially dinner and when I’m trying to sleep. When I flare, I can feel ill all of the time, or most of it.

Feeling ill makes it difficult to do things sometimes. It makes me anxious about eating out in case I get symptoms. I have to take painkillers and IBS medication with me when I go out to see friends. Sometimes, it’s fine and does not really bother me. Other times, it’s just horrible. However, I know that there are worse things and I love my life, I feel very grateful for everything I have and I know that not feeling very well will pass. I know that if I keep doing things that make me anxious and try to work on improving my mental health, things will get better, even if I feel 1% better for a little while, it will still be worth it.

My current mental health plan is to try to get into exercising more regularly and I will be posting updates on here about my progress. I am also trying to relax more and that includes blogging, potentially as a job. I am so glad that I started this blog and I am so thankful for all of the interaction that I have received from other people so far.

Do you have IBS? How do you deal with it?

Series I Need to Finish/ Series Crackdown TBR

Series Crackdown is a readathon between 9^th-18^thFebruary where readers can attempt to finish their unread or unfinished book series’ on their shelves. So, here is a list of all the completed series I have on my shelves that I either have not read or that I have not finished yet:

The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I think that it is best to go into the first book in this series not knowing much so here is a brief synopsis: this series follows the perspective of a male teenager who wishes to escape his small town. He meets a girl that changes everything. She is cursed.

I have read the first two books in this series (there are four altogether) and I remember really enjoying them and reading them very quickly. However, it was a long time ago so I am interested to see if I still feel the same. I did have some issues with the female protagonist in the second book but the other characters were likeable and the storyline was still intriguing. The stakes seemed to increase in the sequel. Once I finish this series, I can start reading the spin off series.

Guest Series: Mental Health & Creativity. A Writer Comes to Terms with Grief by Rosanna Leo

Hello everyone, I decided to start a guest series for people to talk about how their mental health affects their creative work and life and how they deal with it. Mental health is a topic that is close to my heart, and so is creativity. By doing this, I hope that some people will find comfort in the words of others as I have done so before and still do. I am so grateful to everyone who has offered to write for this series so far.

Our first guest writer is Rosanna Leo, a multi-published author of contemporary and paranormal romance. Winner of the Reader’s Choice 2015 in Paranormal Romance at The Romance Reviews, Rosanna draws on her love of mythology for her books on Greek gods, selkies and shape shifters.

From Toronto, Canada, Rosanna occupies a house in the suburbs with her long-suffering husband, their two hungry sons and a tabby cat named Sweetie. When not writing, she can be found haunting dusty library stacks or planning her next star-crossed love affair.

A library employee by day, she is honored to be a member of the league of naughty librarians who also happen to write romance. Please find her social media links at the end of the post.

The Dating Debate by Chris Cannon Review

How Books Have Become Such a Large Part of my Life

When I was a child I loved doing book reviews for school, it was so fun talking about a book and designing the pages of my workbook. However, one day when I was slightly older, I was reading a Sabrina the Teenage Witch book (one of my favourite television programmes) and my teacher said that it was rubbish and that I should not be reading it. Instead, I was given The Railway Children which as a child, I did not enjoy. This put me off reading for a long time (and is why I am an advocate for letting children read what they want to read because they are still reading). I ended up not enjoying reading books for class and missing years of reading so many books. I remember picking up Twilight, I think because everyone was reading it. Then my friends introduced me to manga which I really enjoyed and then I progressed on to reading more young adult and adult fiction. During this time, I was writing. I had written a poem in class and got the bug for it. I think I loved poetry because I was writing about what I saw in the world around me and putting it into a rhythm that sounded beautiful.  Finally, I had found my talent, something that I enjoyed and that I could do. I started writing short stories and larger ones. I remember writing what I thought at the time was a whole novel, in fifteen days, and then realising that there was a massive plot hole right at the beginning of the story. I kept reading and writing. I enjoyed reading because I have always loved stories and it still seems so magical to me that a whole world can be contained within a book. I love writing because when I write it feels like I’m pulling something from deep within me; I am doing something that feels like me. It is hard work which uses a lot of mental energy but I love it. It feels wonderful to write and although it is not always easy, I would not change it. In fact, a world without writing seems so sad to me.