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Poetry helps me heal

Thursday, 03 October 2024 Alice

Alice says that writing poems has enabled her to process her dark thoughts.

I am a happy person who loves teaching dance and exercise, singing with care-home residents, and enjoying life with my husband, friends, and pets. I also perform comedy and poetry around the country. Despite this, I struggle with severe anxiety, PTSD, and an eating disorder that began in my teens as a dancer.

“Writing poetry has also become an escape. It allows me to express the emotions that I cannot share with others.”

People often assume that severe anxiety makes someone unhappy, but I wanted to show that happiness is still possible, so I wrote a blog for Mind called "How to be Happy with Mental Health Problems." I shared how I manage my anxiety by staying active and focusing on goals, like charity runs and swims, and discovering mindfulness which has been a lifeline for me.

Writing poetry has also become an escape, especially after a series of painful bereavements. It allows me to express the emotions that I cannot share with others (apart from my wonderful husband) and to process incredibly dark thoughts.

Describing feelings in writing and seeing them on the page, takes me out of being trapped inside the thoughts, and I see them from a different viewpoint. I started to write about my panic attacks, describing those moments when my hamster wheel of a brain would spin ceaselessly, thoughts exploding like brightly lit fireflies, filling my body with adrenaline and fear. Now I also write about times of calm and breathing and how nature helps me to use self-reflection and creative insight when I am calm.

I won a poetry competition, which led to publishing books and performing at events, shows and festivals. Recently, I started performing my poetry with my husband Marek, blending my words with his music and our combined visuals. This has led to a Fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts.

I hope to inspire others, especially young people struggling with their mental health. And show that creative expression like art or poetry can lead to healing.

“I want people to feel that there is always hope after reading one of my poems or seeing me perform or read them.”

I often perform a piece about suicidal feelings and how an event changed my life in one moment, when an old lady just smiled at me on a bridge and touched my arm. (Maybe that is why I like to work with older people, kind of giving something back in a way).

I want people to feel that there is always hope after reading one of my poems or seeing me perform or read them. I never used to show people my poetry, but now I always write with the reader always in mind.

There have been some studies to suggest that reading or writing poetry can have a positive experience on emotions of children. Poetry expresses emotions that we are often told to suppress. By giving a focus or a creative outlet maybe we can learn to heal ourselves and the world all around us.

The Sky

The sky seems just a little brighter today
The light seems just a little whiter today

The trees have become a brilliant green
And seemingly different from previously seen

The sky seems just a little brighter today
The light seems just a little whiter today

A poppy in a field, a more vibrant red
Nodding his delicate flowery head

The sky seems just a little brighter today
The light seems just a little whiter today

My lovers eyes seem a little richer, more dark
They are smiling a twinkle a glimmering spark

The sky seems just a little brighter today
The light seems just a little whiter today

 ©Alice Tribedi

MEMORIES (Mindful poem)

Memories with which we capture the past
And the pull of future fears
Like a rosary of time tied together
Or a mist of thoughts forming a cloud
The mind, resembling a jumbled poem,
Full of mental leaps and jumps
Like tiny fireflies forever leaping
Into a brightly lit lantern of reflections
Accept them all, welcome them in
Smile as you breathe with them a while
Let them sit, and stay, becoming still
They really mean to cause no harm

©Alice Tribedi

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