It was about a year ago when 19-year-old Bradford resident Stephanie Marie came up with an idea to write her own book about mental illness, trauma, abuse, and loss.
As a psychology major at York University, Marie has a passion for helping others suffering from mental-health issues with plans of one day becoming a trauma counsellor.
Until then, in between studying and working part-time, Marie uses her spare time to write about the subject she is most passionate about. She wanted to write a book that would help others not feel so alone in their struggles with mental health.
“I’ve always been interested in mental health. I watched people struggle with it throughout my life,” she explained. “And I’ve always wanted to write.”
The book, The Pains of Living, which released on Nov. 15, features a collection of poems written by Marie, based on the inspiration of 30 anonymous friends from her social network.
By publishing this book, she is hoping to help break the stigma around mental illness, and raise awareness of its prominence in today’s society.
Marie says her goal was to write about as many mental health struggles as possible, and felt it would only make sense to write about them from the perspective of those who have lived with them first hand.
“I wanted the people reading it to get a feel for what the person was feeling at the time. And I think poetry is the best way to do that,” she explained.
To draw inspiration, she created a Google Doc with a questionnaire and survey, and shared it with her social network with a questionnaire for people to contribute to anonymously.
The feedback she received from the post was overwhelming.
She noted that some people even offered to speak to her in person about their struggles and pain.
Most of the poems are written in free verse, but there are a few ballads and sonnets included in the collection as well.
She added that the themes for the poems cover a range of topics, from death and anxiety to toxic friendships and body image issues.
“Reading through, it broke my heart, these are people who had my link and know me personally. I had a few people telling me they had abusive fathers and that just broke my heart,” she described on some of the stories people shared with her.
From the 30 anonymous respondents, she was able to create over 70 poems out of their contributed stories.
For example, one respondent talked about losing a friend in a car accident, “So I split that into two poems,” she explained.
The first poem describing how they felt at the time of the accident–angry and upset; and one describing the feelings of getting through a tough traumatic event, and how to get through a loss.
“It was really emotional,” she described of the compilation process.
Some of her most notable poems, William and Sharon, both express the struggles of losing a parent at a young age.
Another stand out poem is written as a dialogue between a woman and herself as she looks in the mirror, inspired by a friend’s contribution and her struggles with body image.
As a self-publisher, Marie was able to incorporate her family and friends’ talents into the book as well. With her friend designing the front cover, and her mother, Julia’s photography scattered throughout the pages to accompany the poems.
To help publicize the book, she has created her own website, and has even added an e-book version on Amazon.
“I was blown away when she first showed me what she was doing,” said her mother, Julia Brocca.
“Just watching her go through the process, marketing, and everything, I am quite proud of what she’s accomplished.”
On her book release weekend, Marie contributed 15 per cent of her sales to the Canadian Mental Health Association.
“I felt that was important, to give back, because that’s what the whole book is about,” she explained.
This may just be the start for Marie, as she already has another book "in the works," which will focus more on love and heartbreak. She is also hoping to produce a few short films based on a few poems from the current book.
To learn more about the book, or to purchase a copy, check out the website here.
