Beloved creator of the Chronicles of Narnia series, C. S. Lewis has been a household name for decades. From his broadcasts during World War II to his notable other works: The Screwtape Letters, Perelandra, and a library of religious poetry and novels; Lewis has created a name for himself as a passionate and honest man which is evident in his refreshingly succinct yet imaginative writing style which gives him a very authentic voice. He’s been very forthcoming with reasons behind his writing and how he used it as a way to understand and work with the grief of losing his wife as well as his own struggles with his faith. Since this is mental health awareness month, there truly is no better time to look into the writings of a man who used his pain and confusions to help understand his own mind and find his peace.
"First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand."
"I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state, but a process. It needs not a map, but a history, and if I don't stop writing that history at some quite arbitrary point, there's no reason why I should ever stop."
"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."
May is mental health awareness month- as Lewis aptly put it, “Ink is the great cure for all human ills” too often we find ourselves getting wrapped up in what seems to be an endless sea of chaos. Take a small moment today and talk about what truly ills you- be as honest as you are able to be with yourself, sometimes simply writing our most secret worries down is enough to calm them.
