How I eased stress and anxiety with calligraphy

I had no idea I was struggling. I was only aware that I was crying a lot and walking around in a fog. I couldn’t cope with noise or people. Conversations were difficult and everything felt hopeless. I had returned to full time work after having my second child. The bad news reports were circling the internet, tv, WhatsApp messages and life seemed like it was swallowing me up. Of course, as a mum of two I felt I had more to prove than anyone that I could work constantly and raise children with a skip in my step and a smile. In reality, I was far from this.

It was the moment I found myself in tears in the corner of the bedroom trying to hide from guests in the next room, my family and, well, life. That’s when I realised things may not be as they should be.

Where my journey began

I decided to call my doctor. They signed me off work and along with calls to my organisation’s Employee Assistant Programme careline, I was referred to a therapist for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This raised my awareness of mental health issues, opened my eyes to the importance of wellbeing, and started me on a path that changed everything.

Within a few weeks I was back to work, probably 80% myself. Within a month I was starting my CBT sessions. A friend noticed I was doing very little for myself. She reminded me that I was a creative creature, but did nothing to satisfy this side of me. She sent me a list of workshops - one of which was a calligraphy for beginners class with Quill London (which has now sadly closed).

The class took me away from my usual space, no kids, no work, no one I knew. Just me and a nib and some ink. I connected with the art, but was certainly no natural. I enjoyed it but really didn’t think much more about it, other than the fact that I liked how it calmed my mind and how easy it was to start.

Discovering my sanctuary 

Before taking the class, every evening I loathed the brief two hours to myself once the kids were in bed. Two hours felt like the rest of the time had been stolen from me and that’s all I had left. But soon after the class I began spending my evenings doodling and practising calligraphy, trying out pens and styles and getting into a little space where I could be myself.

Suddenly, those two hours each evening became a sacred time and I noticed my mindset shifting to a sense of abundance, “two whole hours to myself”! This became my time. My space: a creative and calming sanctuary. 

Church bells and career goals

It wasn’t long after that I created an Instagram page which I thought I’d use to post little poems and musings, but in fact it became a space for my calligraphy and lettering designs too. And within a few months I was getting quite good. I had grasped my technique and was starting to pick up some new styles. People became interested in my journey and enjoyed watching the videos of me lettering - and even started asking me to write their names, create cards, place names, wedding stationery and more!

I wasn’t able to make a career out of it alone, but I dreamt of it as a possible future career. It also really complimented my growing interest in wellbeing and mental health - particularly in the workplace where I felt there was much to do. Having experienced my own mental health challenge I became very aware of the vast number of people using mental health terms around the office. It was so normalised to hear ‘I’m just so stressed at the moment’, ‘things are a bit too much’, ‘I’m overwhelmed by work’, ‘I’m so busy’. But no measures were being taken to minimise this. A careline was a tick in the mental health box, but wasn’t really enough. What was there to prevent stress build up, what training was there for managers to support staff, what initiatives were there to help people support their own wellbeing? It became something I was really passionate about.

Bringing wellbeing to the main stage

As I explored and learnt all I could about mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, I got to know more about what my organisation did, and how I could help grow the initiatives and programme myself. I connected the dots internally establishing a wellbeing network (now an official committee), and joined forces with colleagues who were equally passionate about making mental health and wellbeing an important part of the agenda. 

As we championed these new measures and ideas, external organisations asked questions and wanted to know what we were doing. We decided to launch the UK National Arts Wellbeing Collective that would bring arts, heritage and cultural organisations together to discuss what they do and promote their wellbeing and mental health initiatives and ideas.

Always more to learn

As my love of calligraphy and lettering took off, and more work came in, I was ready to leave full time work and test the freelancing waters. This new chapter coincided with the pandemic hitting in early 2020. I was lucky enough to be working for a wellbeing tech company, with capacity to run workshops online and really being to share my lettering skills and love with others.

Lockdown was a great time to grow these workshops as people looked for online events - not least me! I decided to develop my understanding of wellbeing, mindfulness and happiness, learning about the science behind wellbeing, doing an 8-week mindfulness course and becoming a certified Happiness Facilitator with the Museum of Happiness.

The future of calligraphy and wellbeing

So I learnt stuff, I taught stuff…now what? Well the connection between mindfulness and lettering, calligraphy and wellbeing have become synonymous for me. It lead me to collaborate with mindfulness coach, Karen Liebenguth, on our Mindful Lettering Workshops following the seasons, developing calligraphy workshops and courses supporting wellbeing, sessions for hard to reach and isolated community groups, and continuing online events to help people take time out for themselves and enjoy their own creative outlet, as I did.

Fancy trying calligraphy for yourself? Grab my free Pencil Calligraphy download and tutorial.

For more on my workshops, to collaborate or work with me please do get in touch.