Writing from the Boat
June 27, 2008 by John Hewitt
Article By Lizzie
Provision for creative writing befalls from a variety of situations. For me, it often comes from my journey with a mental illness. The voice I hear in my writing changes with the suffrage of the illness. Learning to embrace the person within cultivates my creativity while providing the inner recovery from a dread of self.
In the 1975 movie Jaws, Brody (Roy Scheider) and Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) discuss the dilemma with the shark and their response to it. The scene plays out with Brody declaring “You’re going to be needing a bigger boat.” My monster is bipolar. While my psychiatrist, therapist, and pharmacist together have a plan for keeping it from killing me, there are many times the plan wobbles. My psychiatrist and I discussed this one day:
“So how are things?” she asks.
“I am going to need a bigger boat” I say.
Pause. Then, “Come again?” she returns.
I sigh. “I need a bigger boat.” I retort.
“Okay, a bigger boat . . .” she repeats looking puzzled.
She knows my tendency to use metaphors to skirt around my condition. You can see her head trying to drum up which movie I am referring to this time and then says . . .
“Your current treatment is not working as well as you would like.”
“Yes” (finally) I reply. Then ramble on, “It is not so much that I feel bad, or that the panic attacks are killing me, or that I am depressed and unable to get out of bed, it is the fact that I know what this illness can do to me. The monster comes creeping out of the water and the next thing I know it has attacked me once again.”
I have to accept the boat I have been given and embrace its familiar comfort. As I take care of my boat, enjoy its character, and make my way through the unknown waters ahead of me, I find relief and healing in expression through writing. Whatever boat you find yourself in, it is yours. Providence has given it to you. Don’t trade it for a bigger or smaller one. Keep the one that you were given and do battle with the monsters coming your way. Yes, Sharks are swimming furiously out there. They are just waiting to devour not just your work, but the creative ignition that waits to fire off future products. Protect yourself, while taking risks. Stay in your boat, be still, watchful, and wait. Creativity will come.
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About Lizzie:
I am a professional currently working on a master’s degree in my field. Recovering my sanity has led to recovery of my creativity. I express this through writing. As I make my passage through life dragging a diagnosis of bipolar along, I hope my journey gives others the belief they too can live with and find a voice in whatever condition attempts to diminish their creativity. One of my vocalizations is my Blog: http://bipolarjourney.com.
Related links
- 4-Hour Work Week: Lessons for Writers (0.500)
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- Seven Powerful Tips for Maximizing Your Freelance Writing Business (0.500)
- Are You Determined Enough to be a Freelance Writer? (0.500)
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Contact John Hewitt
Writing Content and Web Consulting
Email: hewitt@poewar.comPhone: (520) 261-6104
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Twitter: @poewar
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Lizzie,
Thank you for so eloquently sharing your experiences. I believe writing is great therapy for many issues, not just mental illness. After I had a stroke, writing a novel about a woman who had a stroke was a healing experience for me.
May you continue to explore and exploit your creativity, and may you continue to be an inspiration to others.
Lizzie, I am awed both by your courage to speak openly on the web about your illness, and by the strength within you made obvious by your writing. I love your metaphor of the boat (and that you use movie metaphors to discuss your illness). Some people may think that you are “skirting” the issue, but, to me, your metaphors are a way to take control, to express your experience in a form that makes sense to you. Have you ever read the memoir The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Saks? Dr. Saks suffers from schizophrenia and her journey toward mastering her illness is both harrowing and inspiring. She is a wonderful writer like you and makes great use of metaphors to describe what her illness is like. I highly recommend it.
Again, thank you for your post.
Marie Ann Baileys last blog post..Sustainable Writing
Lizzie, thank you for sharing your story. I think there is still so much misunderstanding and stigma out there attached to mental illness that when someone like you steps forward, it sheds a light on it for everyone as well as helping to take away the stigma. Your courage in writing this will help someone else. You can be sure of that.
Keep writing!
Morgans last blog post..Guest Blog
Lizzie:
How brave of you to share your journey in such a public way. I’m sure you’re helping many who don’t have the courage you do.
Love this line: “I have to accept the boat I have been given and embrace its familiar comfort.”
Beautiful.
Yuwanda Blacks last blog post..Have Freelance Writing Rates Degenerated into an Elitist/Classist War?
Lizzie, what a lovely metaphor. All my mere words can do is echo other posters’: Bless your heart for posting about your battles with the abyss, the monster that is bipolar illness. As another poster said, you can be 100% certain your story has both deeply affected and helped your readers–what more could a writer (or a human being, for that matter) ask for?
Best wishes,
Leigh
[...] is making her “passage through life dragging a diagnosis of bipolar along.” Her post, Writing from the Boat, is an powerful testament to her inner courage and strength. The boat metaphor comes from a scene [...]
Lizzie,
Your analogy is a powerful one. Thanks so much for sharing so candidly about your experience with bipolar and how it has affected your writing–and your life. Your optimistic philosophy will no doubt serve to encourage others who battle the same demons–and even others who don’t. After all, each of us must face our own personal phantoms.
Touching post!
Jeanne
Lizzie,
I wish more writers were blatant about the monster within. I have made similar conversation with non-artists and they think I should just be locked up! I wonder how many have the same problems, but just don’t say.
RK
Rachaels last blog post..Poem Published in Online E-Zine
Lizzie! Thank you! I am in a constant battle against depression. I’m terrified that it will come back – so much so that I am afraid of what comes out of my pen sometimes. You give me hope and because of that, I will continue to write.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments. Speaking, out is hard, but the payoff comes with the healing it has given. Living with a block for so many years left me with no results in my writing. Don’t be afraid to explore your personal self. The voice you write with is who you are. Embrace it!
Regards,
Lizzie~
Lizzies last blog post..Displaced Anger
This is a perfect metaphor, Lizzie