Writing – Christy Zigweid

I’m Quitting: Here’s Why

Posted on February 25, 2016March 11, 2024 by Christy

Yes, you read that right. I am quitting. I am going to stop this circus of being stuck inside my own head. It’s been holding me back in my writing, parenting, and interactions with others for a long time, often making me feel as though I am not good enough at anything; a dangerous place to be when suffering from depression and anxiety.

I’m prone to the perfectionism trap as a writer and creative and it has swallowed me whole. I’ve been bogged down with feeling like I have to do everything: creating a platform, managing social media, writing a blog, writing the novel I’ve been working on since 2013, and a long list of other things indie authors are in charge of. I cannot get past the mental block inside myself when I write and often feel as though I fall short, unable to tell a good story or help anyone. All of this has become a vicious cycle of wanting to help but feeling as though I’m not, so I second guess everything and dig myself back into the hole I’ve tried so hard to get out of. Day after day the stress of being locked inside my own head, analyzing every move I make, has forced me to pull away from my family and miss out on precious moments. It’s tearing me apart. Outside I refuse to be a supermom, but inside I am doing just that, feeling like I have to do everything on my own.

I’m here to say, I can’t do it on my own. And that’s okay. Because I’ve realized I am the one holding me back. The constant chatter in my head fed by depression and anxiety has clouded everything I do; I often can’t see through the thick fog hanging over me. While I am okay for a while, it’s not long before the chatter starts again, and I fall right back into that dark place, defeated and stuck before I’ve even moved. That’s no way to live.

This winter I’ve been caught in my own internal snowstorm, laden with icy comment daggers. Earlier I said I was quitting. Am I quitting writing? Absolutely not. Life without writing would be like hell. Am I quitting on myself? As much as my depression would like me to, I will not give up. But here’s what it does mean. It means that I am going to do things that make me feel worthwhile. And as I start to heal from all of this negative chatter and move forward, I will write about it and continue to write fiction stories. It’s time for me to step back get my priorities straight. I need to take care of myself or I fear I won’t be here to see what happens on the other side.

If you are struggling and want to give up, please don’t. Take a break. Do something you love. Give yourself permission to take the time to do these things, otherwise you won’t be helping yourself at all. I said in another blog post, “My illness doesn’t define me.” Your illness doesn’t define you either. Stay strong. You can quit the things which make you miserable, but don’t give up on yourself. The world needs you.

Mental Health

I Will Not Let Mental Illness Hold Me Prisoner Anymore

Posted on November 11, 2015March 11, 2024 by Christy

Post originally appeared here

If you’ve spent any amount of time looking through my website, you will see I am a supporter of awareness for mental health and suicide. I also write fiction and blog posts that are hard to read because of their honesty. Why do I do this? Because I believe people shouldn’t have to suffer in silence.

I’ve battled depression and generalized anxiety disorder for many years (I was diagnosed before I was in college). I have worn the mask, hiding my illness from people (except those really close to me, which are very few), afraid if I let on just a little bit I was struggling, my friends and family would suffer.

I live with darkness and suicide every day. It’s a battle I’ve learned to manage. I sit with myself often, enduring the self-loathing my illness projects onto me, waiting until it passes. Sometimes that’s a few hours; sometimes its days. Yes, I’ve been there, staring suicide right in the face. And while I know this will be hard for many to read (especially my family), it is a truth of my everyday life. In my times of utter despair, I have to remind myself what I’ll be leaving behind if I go through with it. All I have to do is picture my husband and my kids and while the power to give up overwhelms me, I hold on to that ONE thing. Because it’s my family who keep me here. It’s my closest friends who remind me how much I’ve touched their lives, or their children’s lives, just by being me. Those are the things I hold on to. Those are the things that eventually pull me out and bring me back into what’s real. Through the years my husband and I have learned to deal with the ups and downs, the good days and the bad. We’ve worked out a system that works for our family. And we trudge on, knowing the downs will come again, but being better prepared each time for when they hit. This is why I am a supporter of mental health and suicide awareness.

Without the support of my husband, I don’t know that I would be here today writing about my story. My illness is very scary for those around me as well as for myself. My husband only wants to help but often doesn’t know how. My children see the effects but don’t understand why mom is “sad” or “freaked out.” It’s hard watching your family struggle and knowing you are partially the cause. Its scary sitting with your own thoughts, part of you knowing they are lying and part of you knowing they are not. It’s hard to sort through the truth and the lies.

I am learning to know myself better as a writer and as a person. And while I’ve been denying this truth about sharing my story, I have hindered progress in taking the right steps to move forward. Some people believe we have a “calling” in life. While I do not believe we have a pre-determined path to our lives, I do believe in fate. I do believe we are all here for a reason. I was born nearly three months early and weighed two pounds two ounces. At the time of my birth, hospitals were just figuring out how to care for premature babies. I survived. And I survive today, despite my illness telling me I have no purpose here. I will never be “cured,” just as someone with a chronic illness will tell you. But I can share my story with others. I can own my illness as part of me but not all of me. I can continue to take care of myself and live out this “calling” I feel compelled to do.

I also credit people who have helped me step out on this limb. My husband, my very close friends, some people in my writing group, and a group called “This is My Brave.” They have opened my eyes to the fact I don’t have to live in silence anymore, pretending to be something I am not.

As I write this I am very aware of the ripple effects it may have. But it’s time to share my story. It’s time to step out of hiding and say “You can’t hold me down anymore. I will fight you each and every time, even if every time you make it harder and harder to crawl out.” I am not my illness. My illness is only a part of me. I am a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, and a human being. Do I have flaws? Absolutely, but they don’t define me and they are not “all” of me.

Writing about writing

5 Things No One Tells You About Being a Writer

Posted on May 3, 2015March 11, 2024 by Christy

I’m not sure what I thought writing was like when I started on this journey and I can’t tell you what the journey will look like six months or even a year from now. I am not the same writer I was when I did NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November of 2013. What I knew then was I wanted to write a book. That was it. Nothing glamourous.

I did write a book. And when I finished I said, “Now what?” I had a sinking feeling. I wrote a book. I never thought I would. But now I was faced with what comes next.

My “now what” sent me on a whirlwind of learning about what it really takes to get a book out there and how naïve I really was.

5 Things No One Tells You About Being a Writer

1. It’s HARD work

The process of writing is time consuming. Not only do you have to have the right topic, idea, or story, but you also have to be able to put all of those things together like a puzzle to say what you need. Once you write it, you must go back and edit. And sometimes editing can take 5,6,7 or even 20 revisions.

Do not be shy in joining critique groups. Many of them I am involved with are very encouraging.

2. You can get lost in all of the “learning”

And it can be overwhelming. There’s marketing, building a platform, how you’re going to launch your book, the list goes on and on. One thing to remember, and I have to remind myself of this repeatedly, you have to write. If you don’t write, none of the other stuff will matter.

3. It doesn’t have to be a solo job

When I agreed to do a collaborative project, I had no idea what I was in for. I didn’t know what to expect or what was going to happen. But collaboration was a game changer for me. I met new people, who have become my friends, and leaned many valuable lessons about writing, editing, publishing and launching a book.

4. Editing is, for most, the worst part of the process

Many writers, if you ask them the worst part of writing, will say the editing. Editing is difficult in so many ways. You are forced to remove parts you thought were really good and you find out some of it really wasn’t that good. You have to be able to look at your work objectively. This is where critique groups can come in handy. They are a fresh set of eyes. Too often we find ourselves too close to our work, which makes it hard to see what needs to be fixed.

5. It is definitely NOT a glamorous occupation

My friend James said it best: “I kept this image in my head of working along in a dimly lit room, pounding away on the keys of a terribly abused typewriter…There was a very ‘Hemingway-esque’ feel to this vision.” (Introduction in Mosaic). I saw it exactly like this, lonely and closed off, dark and sometimes scary. It’s not glamourous, but it is fulfilling, which matters most.

5 Things I love about writing

1. It allows me to follow my calling

I recently read Jeff Goins’ book The Art of Work about finding your calling in life. And while I wished I had this book ten or twelve years ago, I was thankful for the message found throughout. I am doing my calling. I am writing and working from home. I am living the dream many said I would never have a one I never believed I would be doing. I am grateful every day for the support and ability to do what I love day in and day out.

2. It’s my creative outlet

Life gets complicated and messy. Sometimes we want to throw in the towel. Writing (and scrapbooking) is my outlet for creativity, expressing myself, and winding down at the end of a very long day.

3. Even though at times I want to pull my hair out, I still love it

There are nights I can’t sleep because I am thinking about my book or blog post or whatever I am working on at the moment. There are times I am so stressed I just want to crawl in a hole. But despite all the madness, I cannot imagine myself doing anything different.

4. It’s taught me a lot about myself

I have learned a lot about myself in the past two years. The biggest being that I can embark on a hard journey and see it through to the end, no matter what. The stakes are too high for me to quit.

5. It’s challenged me in ways I never expected

Daily it challenges me to think outside the box, ask for help when I’d rather not, and put my work out there. I am still working on being comfortable with getting my work out there. I have made new friends, something I don’t do terribly well (I am a horrible introvert)!