Collab
Another shortened vocab word, this one about a thing a person did with me! (That sounds way naughtier than it is…)
In the vein of several Fridays ago, when I used the shortened word Inspo to curtail a full fresh article till the following week, today’s slangy word is collab. Short for ‘collaboration’ (the way ‘inspo’ was short for ‘inspiration’), I’m using this as my vocab word today as an excuse to share this awesome interview with me that came out yesterday on fellow Substackian Kathryn’s newsletter about the connection between mental health and art, Create Me Free!
It was so nice e-chatting with Kathryn and I had a great time seeing how she put our convo together. I’ll probably cross-post the whole enchilada at some later point, but for now, please to enjoy this brief excerpt and then go on over to Create Me Free and enjoy the rest over there.
[QUOTE FROM CMF BELOW] 👇🏻
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How does writing interact with mental health?
Weirdly, I feel like the more I write about my personal stories, the more it helps others. So like: my not-so-great mental health, when expressed well, impacts my readers (and watchers) positively. If that makes sense.
That definitely makes sense. And it’s really powerful. Can you say a bit more about that?
When I shared my memoir concept and sample with two different journalists, they changed their awful life situation for the better. I like to joke that my book has saved lives already, and it’s not even published yet.
How has what you choose to write about been impacted by your mental health?
Well, I finished a memoir last summer, which centered on my experience of abuse from a narcissistic husband and an exploitative career, in tandem. That went so well (and I’m so happy with the result) that now I write almost exclusively personal essay. And it’s damn good stuff, which is not something I’d have expected even a year ago.
What was your experience of writing that memoir?
The biggest takeaway I have from completing the memoir is that the process assisted me in understanding what was done to me, that it wasn't my fault, that I'm not the crazy one (not for that reason anyway) and also in noticing the ways in which what happened still affects me, allowing me to work on changing my kneejerk reactions and finally standing up for my self and my worth.
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This collab was an inspo convo if there ever was one.
This was a great interview Jenn!