"It is so easy to think the world revolves around you, but all you have to do is stare up at the sky to realize it isn't that way at all" - Jodi Picoult

Skies have always been a centering force for me. Whenever I feel myself getting lost in my head, being reminded that we are only but a small part of a much larger world always helps me find my way back to the ground. But when it comes to actually expelling the thoughts that run rampant in my head, writing has always been my tool of choice. As such, when embarking on this project and the experiments involved, I knew I wanted to use it as an opportunity for me to tap into the things that I struggled with the most within myself, as I felt that is where my best writing would emerge. I love to write, I love its power, and I knew I would love being able to try new forms of writing. But one thing I didn’t expect from this journey was the impact this writing process would have on me.

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Namely, though both pieces are centered around mental health, experimenting with different genres, tones and focuses actually impacted my own perception on the subject matter. For my first experiment, I wrote a poem detailing a setback I went through within my academic career. Subconsciously, as I relied heavily on freestyling, the piece came out quite negative with little to any optimism. As a result, I walked away from the writing process not feeling too great about the experience I was detailing and was determined to adopt a more positive tone for the next piece. As such, for my second experiment I decided to do a narrative interview essay where I interviewed a fellow student about the daily tribunals of her life and, more importantly, how she dealt with the hardships she faced. I had much more fun with this piece as it took on a more positive tone and highlighted the up’s of life rather than the down’s. Walking away from this piece left me with a much different attitude than the first, reminding me to focus on the happy moments that are hidden everywhere; at the end of the day, those are the moments we will remember, and for that reminder, I will always be grateful.

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Below I have attached the different pieces that eventually led to my final experiment. These include my origin piece, some poetry I had written previously in the form of a ‘brain dump,’ and my first experiment. I hope you enjoy.