We spoke to Laura about her experience with mental health and her inspiration for the blog.
Mental health awareness has been a hot topic of conversation, with more light being shed on daily mental health as well as illness. Mental health is something that affects every single person and is something that needs to be continually talked about to break the taboo. One local student is doing just that through her new poetry blog.
We spoke to Laura Camilleri about her Instagram poetry blog and what inspired her to start it. “Mental health issues affect a substantial amount of people around us and, most of the time, we are unaware. I, myself, most probably like some people reading this post, have had to carry the heavy burden of anxiety throughout these last few years. I must admit that the daily struggles are not easy especially when you get to face the trigger every day. It’s not easy to feel like you are not good enough, no matter how hard you try especially when you need to face certain challenges,” she says.
“The hardest thing about having anxiety, however, I think is that, above all, you feel alone and, sometimes, not able to express what you need at that very moment of distress, and you end up pushing people away when you need them the most,” she says, revealing that this was one of the things that inspired a poem of hers.
Laura says that her experience with anxiety was an uphill battle but one she is overcoming one step at a time. “Before anxiety started to take over my life, I was not that aware about how much it can actually affect one’s life and how strong you have to be each day to battle every thought. It’s like you are constantly in a war-zone and unfortunately, the opponent is your own mind. Day by day, you start getting stronger yet, sometimes, it gets too much and you give in. I believe that it is part of a long process of recovery.”
“Luckily, I am surrounded by family and friends that support me through every step of the journey, they motivate me to keep pushing and to come out of my comfort zone, which I must admit is not easy at all but for that I am very grateful. Living with the struggles of anxiety has also had its positive effect on me because knowing the pain has led me to start empathising more with people, and trying to make that extra effort to smile at people and be kinder because I realised that many are fighting battles that we do not know of and a little effort can go a long way.”
The Way The Heart Speaks
Laura decided to start the blog, which she named The Way The Heart Speaks, to help her get through her anxiety by writing things down. “One day I realised that I found my means of expression through poetry. I started using it as a coping mechanism to channel the thoughts in words. I cannot say that it works all the time but sometimes I manage to explain perfectly what I need others to know. Obviously, as a person who struggles with anxiety, sharing my poems was a big step as I always thought that they are not good enough but I decided to challenge myself, give it a try, and start this Instagram poetry blog,” she admits.
The medical student says that it was a challenge to share her own poetry, since it made her feel vulnerable, but it’s a passion of hers so she gave it a shot. She also shares poems about different moments and events in her life to show that life is a rollercoaster and you just have to enjoy the ride. “The main drive, however, to share the poems was to let others, who pass through the same things, know that they are not alone and that it is okay to speak about what you really go through.”
So, what got her writing these poems?
“To be honest, I remember writing poems when I was young about trivial things. However, it never occurred to me how this can be used as a coping mechanism,” she admits. “The first time I actually wrote a poem about anxiety was in a middle of an anxiety attack. I remember feeling overwhelmed and wrote it simply as a cry for help. In fact, the poem explains what I needed at that moment from the people around me to help me cope. Since that moment, I started using challenges that I had to face or specific life moments as an inspiration. Through writing, I found not only a form of expression but also a passion.”
A helping tool for others
Laura hopes that, in some way, she can help others get through experiences like hers. “I want these poems to encourage people suffering from anxiety to express themselves, maybe they can relate to the words expressed and use my poems as their own form of explanation to their families and friends. I also want these poems to make people feel understood and not alone. There are so many of us who go through the same things but, because we keep it all inside, we do not realise and, therefore, remain enclosed in our own bubble of thoughts.”
She also hopes that this can shed light on mental health awareness about those struggling with it, and help others who “luckily never experienced struggles with mental health to know how difficult it can be and to start to understand and be more empathic. I also hope that they encourage people to let go of their pride, speak up and seek help because there is nothing to be ashamed of. Let us break the stigma that engulfs our society.”