Hannah Browne shares how the news of a family member diagnosed with cancer made her question her own life and fuel her writing.
My inspiration for writing came from the realisation of how fickle life really is and how often we take it for granted. Wishing each day away into the next, we hope for lockdowns and social distancing to become things of the past, while others pray each day won’t be their last in a hospital ward. Upon discovering the health status of a family member, I felt motivated and inspired to write, simply because I didn’t understand how I felt at first, and writing helped me deal with these unprecedented emotions.
It gave me inspiration to write and really appreciate everything life has to offer. The feelings I had were strong and the only outlet I had was writing. I could express myself and ponder the different aspects of life. It also gave me time and interest to research what cancer actually is and how it affects people. During lockdown, nearly everyone was reminiscing about the times before social distancing and wanted so desperately to return to normal.
Although Covid-19 captures every headline, it seems to have taken precedence over other major issues which remain, such as the prevalence of cancer. We seem to have forgotten about the constant disease and tend to focus on the virus.
It’s made me ask so many questions and reflect on the concept of time more. What does time mean? Have I spent my time in lockdown well? Do I spend my time well in general? How would I feel in that situation? It’s given me a lot to explore creatively. Something so intricate deserves to be mirrored in writing. It’s something that comes out of nowhere, makes no sense, yet has the ability to connect all the dots.