Through The Clouds

I did not realise how much I had encountered issues with and battled with mental health in one guise or another throughout my life until I had cause to refocus when I lost my dad in 2003. From a young age, I was faced with challenges that I knew were not "normal" and I did not consider their impact until much later in life when it became all too clear.My family life was not always rosy, and there were issues with alcoholism, phobias, anxiety, fear and jealousy. Not that much different to every other family I'm sure. In 2018, whilst I was studying to become a mental health first aider, I worked with people who reignited my love of poetry, and I suddenly found that I could finally express some of my long-harboured and hidden emotions and feelings through this medium.This collection has been written to highlight and celebrate the trials and tribulations of mental health, and I hope will be an example that positivity can bloom from challenging beginnings, and although there are dark days, it's important to focus and to begin to see through the clouds.