Tag: Wellbeing

My Writing, PhD

Sunshine, writing, and reading

Caroline Butterwick

It’s the kind of weather this week where I don’t know whether to be celebrating the sunshine or desperately hoping for it to cool down!

I’ve had two more articles published in the past couple of weeks. The first is on mental health support at work, and is available to read on the Stylist website. I interviewed two experts for advice on what our rights are at work if we have a mental health condition, and the article covers everything from deciding to disclose to your boss to what reasonable adjustments you can get and what to do if you face discrimination.

Having a mental health condition myself, I know that navigating this at work can be a challenge. It was a really interesting piece to research, and I hope that this article helps others get the support they need and deserve.

Photo shows the front cover of Oh magazine, with an illustration of a bird and a vibrant summer garden, with a pink and orange sky in the background.

The other piece is a feature in the always lovely Oh magazine. It’s on the disability arts movement, and how art can be used to explore and celebrate our lives and challenge ideas about what it means to be disabled.

I was lucky enough to speak to two talented artists, Anahita Harding and Nina Thomas, for the article to share their insights. I also reflected on my own experience of writing about disability – how writing allows me to, quite literally, take authorship of my experiences. I love how the feature is illustrated in the magazine with photos of Anahita and Nina and their artwork.

Photo shows an open magazine showing an article. The article is called Every Body. There is a photo in the magazine of a woman in a wheelchair sticking the wheelchair symbol onto a wall.

I’ve also been focusing on getting more reading done for my PhD this week. I’m currently reading The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur Frank, on life writing and illness. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but already I have pages and pages of notes on his work.

Focusing on anything for too long is hard in this heat, but I’m glad to have been making progress and having exciting projects to work on.  

My Writing

Reclaiming my story

Caroline Butterwick

I’ve not been as good as I’d like at keeping my blog updated recently! It’s been a busy time with lots of writing and PhD work.

Today I’ve had an article published by the Wellcome Collection. It’s called Reclaiming My Story and is available to read here.

The article is about how I’ve used my lived experience of mental ill health as part of the service user movement. I talk about how I share my story to help improve mental health services, and also how this helps me make sense of my experiences and feel a sense of taking ownership of what I’ve been through.

It’s a little nerve-wracking having something so personal published. But I feel it’s an important piece, and I hope it helps highlight mental health, and is helpful to others reading who may have been through similar.

My Writing

Coming to terms with a long term condition

Caroline Butterwick

I have an article in the November issue of the always wonderful Happiful magazine, and also available to read on their website. My piece has ideas on how to come to terms with a long term health condition or disability, drawing on my own experience of living with a visual impairment and mental ill health.

The feature includes suggestions such as connecting with other disabled people, how to talk to your loved ones about your condition, and using creative activities to help you work through your thoughts.

Disability has always been part of my life, and sometimes it has been hard for me to make sense of my feelings about it. I hope this article helps others, whether dealing with a new diagnosis or having experienced an impairment their whole life.

I always love writing for Happiful magazine, and I’ve enjoyed reading through the November issue, which has some great features on topics like understanding our surge capacity and signs of anxiety. I recommend taking a look at their website or picking up a copy of the print magazine for some wonderful articles exploring all aspects of mental health and wellbeing.

My Writing

Misconceptions about sight loss

Caroline Butterwick

I have a feature in the September issue of the lovely Happiful magazine that explores common misconceptions about sight loss. It’s also available to read on their website.

The article explores some of the views I’ve come across about what it means to be blind or partially sighted. It looks at things like the perception that anyone who uses a cane has no vision at all, whereas many of us with a visual impairment have some level of sight. Personally, I use a cane in busy or unfamiliar places to signal to others that I’m not being rude if I bump into them and that I may need some extra space to find my way about – this is especially true right now with social distancing being so important when out and about.

Other areas covered in the feature include how we access sports and the arts, visual impairment and work, and how people with sight loss can enjoy fashion and beauty.

I loved writing this piece – disability is one of my key areas as a writer, and I enjoy drawing on my experiences in a helpful way. I’m happy too that it’s my third article published by Happiful this year. Happiful is a great monthly magazine focused on wellbeing, and they also have a brilliant website that’s well worth a look.

My Writing

Creative ways to stay in touch

Caroline Butterwick

The lovely Happiful have published my article “Creative ways to stay in touch” today – take a read here. It’s also in the June issue of the magazine.

I’ve always loved connecting with people creatively, and now more than ever, when we find ourselves separated from so many we care about, it’s a great way to reach out.

postcards
When writing the piece, I thought especially about how I’ve stayed in touch with a close friend who now lives in a different country. She’s a visual artist, and naturally we’re both drawn to creative ways to connect – though we do still embrace WhatsApp and Skype. I love it when a postcard from her lands on my doormat, or when I spend time handwriting her a card.

One of the ways I explore is through crafting handmade zines – something I’ve written about on this blog before. There are also suggestions for putting together a playlist, sending a gift box or penning a poem.

How do you like to stay in touch with people? What’s helping you right now?

My Writing

In The Moment article on embracing my disabled identity

Caroline Butterwick

I have a feature in the new issue of the gorgeous In The Moment magazine that’s out today. The article is about accepting – and celebrating – my identity as a disabled person.

ITM magazine

I’ve always been partially sighted. My impairment is something I tried to ignore growing up, certainly until my late teens, but now I see it as an integral part of my identity. From going on to work in disability roles in higher education and the charity sector through to my freelance writing where disability is one of my key focuses and areas of interest, embracing my identity as a visually impaired person has shaped my life so much, and for the better. I’ve also made some wonderful friends through being involved in disability groups.

ITM 1

Still, writing this feature for In The Moment was challenging. It’s one of the more personal articles I’ve had published, and it made me really think about my journey and the things that have influenced it. It can be hard to pinpoint what has shaped me, but I enjoyed reflecting on and exploring this while writing the article.

If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know that disability is one of the main areas I write about. Being disabled impacts on all areas of my life, and I enjoy sharing my experiences through my writing, especially when disabled voices are so often underrepresented.

ITM 2

I hope, sometimes, that others may read my work and see part of their reality reflected in my words. I hope, too, that people who don’t have lived experience of disability feel it gives them an insight into a perspective they’re unfamiliar with.

I’m excited to share that I have other features about disability, including one I’m currently working on, coming up in other magazines this year, and hopefully many after that.

 

My Writing

Article in Happiful magazine

Caroline Butterwick

I’m really happy to have a feature in the new issue of Happiful – one of my favourite magazines – that’s out today.

happiful magazine

My article, “How to cope with first day anxiety”, is all about dealing with the worries that come with starting a new job, from nerves about meeting new people to that pesky feeling of imposter syndrome that many of us experience, especially at times when we should be celebrating our successes instead of fearing we’re not good enough. The article is part of the “Happiful Hacks” series that gives practical, actionable advice to make readers’ lives easier.

 

happiful article

You can get Happiful in various supermarkets and newsagents, or subscribe for free to the digital edition via their website.

The article is also now available to read on their website too.

It’s especially nice to have this published because Happiful is a magazine I pitched feature ideas to quite a few times before getting this article commissioned, and I’d started to question whether it was worth me trying. Writers, keep on going!

 

My Writing

Arvon article in Planet Mindful

Caroline Butterwick

It’s been a busy few weeks for me. I’ve started a new job that involves lots of copywriting (yay!), which I’m really enjoying. I’ve also been working on editing my novel that’s been my work in progress for a while now, as well as pitching and writing articles, and working on short stories too.

planet mindful.jpgI’m very happy to share that I have a feature in the current issue of the gorgeous magazine Planet Mindful. The article is about my experience of attending a residential writing course at the magical Arvon centre The Hurst earlier this year. Planet Mindful is a wonderful wellbeing magazine that I’ve enjoyed reading for a while, so it’s great to be published by them.

MA, My Writing

Handing in my final MA assignment

Caroline Butterwick

It’s taken a while, but I have handed in (well, emailed…) my final assignment for my MA in the Teaching & Practice of Creative Writing!

The assignment was really interesting to write. It’s a mix of my own creative work and research into life writing, especially in relation to mental health. I, like many others, find writing cathartic and it has helped me through some very difficult times. While working on the assignment I came across a word for this: “scriptotherapy” – the therapeutic value of writing about traumatic events, and crafting your own narrative to explore your life.

After doing this MA for so long, it feels weird to think that it’s done. It’s going to be a strange feeling no longer being a student – I have some thoughts about progressing further with my studies, but for now it’s a case of just waiting to see what happens. I’ve found that’s a common theme in a writer’s life: waiting. Waiting to hear back on assignments, on pitches, on submissions. Being a writer is a lesson in patience!

Still, if all goes to plan and I haven’t spectacularly screwed up this last assignment, I should be graduating this July.

 

My Writing, Uncategorized, Workshop

Writing and wellbeing feature in Mslexia

Caroline Butterwick

MslexiaI’m really thrilled to have a feature, “Writing in the World: Mental Health”, published in the current issue of Mslexia magazine. I’ve been a Mslexia subscriber for years and it’s a publication that is well regarded in the writing community, so seeing my work in its pages is pretty exciting.

The article shares my experiences of running community creative writing workshops and how writers can work within a wellbeing context to support participants in a way that is inclusive and encourages creativity.

As I wrote the feature, it was useful to reflect on my practice as both a writer and workshop facilitator. Mental health and wellbeing is a topic very close to me, and I’m passionate about the benefits of art and creative group work – I’ve experienced these benefits myself through periods of ill health when I have been one of the people around the table who’s apprehensively taking part in an artistic activity, rather than being the one delivering it.

It made sense to write an article that combined these passions of mine, and they are areas that I’m hoping to explore further in my writing.