Upside Down…
Hello all,
Welcome back to our beautiful, chaotic, and messy shores. I hope you’re feeling healthy, happy, and at peace. I, personally, have had a lot going on, but I am grateful for the beautiful chaos that life has been lately. It has been some time now since our last journal entry and I apologize sincerely for that. However, it is because I have been so focused on the poetry. Back in November of 2024, I signed a contract with Amazon to publish my very first poetry book “Upside Down (A Collection of Thoughts and Poetry 2018-2023)” and have been striving my hardest over the last few months to make sure everything is absolutely perfect for when the time comes and your hands and these writings interlace with each other… The book doesn’t release until March 1st, so you won’t be able to get a physical copy until then. But however, the e-book is now live on Amazon for pre-order. If you do pre-order the e-book, please also make sure to download the Amazon Kindle app to experience the book when it releases.
Now, before the book does release, I feel it is only right I give you some insight into the meaning behind this book and it’s cover, as well as explaining each section and the inspirations behind them. I have been writing poetry for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t start using it as a form of therapy and self-expression until I was about 16 years old. I believe this is because this was a bit of a rough age for me, I was facing so many different circumstances at once…which then birthed anxiety and depression for me. Although I had a support system around me, was going to therapy, and was distracting myself by school, hobbies, etc… writing and poetry were the only things that I felt really connected to me and understood me, if that makes sense. I remember when I very first began experiencing these mental health issues, I so badly wished I had someone that understood the experience of them, the emotions of them, the brutal thoughts that come with them… I just wanted someone to connect to. Whether that be about anxiety, depression, love, or heartbreak… I needed someone to connect with but could never exactly find them. Last year, when I started my website I feel that is when my healing truly started, and I believe it is because I was finally connecting to someone…myself… but, an older version of myself. Because of this, I am sitting here today writing this out, in my own apartment, in my own peace… in my own happiness. However, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the experience of self-healing and accepting… which is what Upside Down is fully about. It’s about connecting, accepting, loving, breaking, grieving, and self-healing… all with yourself.
As we get into the book, it is 144 pages long with over 100 poems, but the poems are broken into 4 different sections: Earthquake, Inverted, Level Flight, and Upright. Each section will begin with a journal entry pertaining to what that specific section is going to be diving into. For example, when we read the first section, Earthqauke, you will firstly read a journal entry about the first time I began experiencing anxiety and depression, and the harsh, tormented feelings and thoughts that I was experiencing during this time in my life. After reading this journal entry, you are then invited to swim in the water’s of my experience, feelings, interpretations, etc… of anxiety, depression, and some dark harboring thoughts…
The second section “Inverted” is about my experience in love, loss, and heartbreak.
The third section “Level Flight” is about going through life with trying to accept, trying to grieve, and trying to regain control of yourself and life again…. hoping to flip it right side up.
The fourth and final section “Upright” is the wrap around, it is about the journey to self-healing and how life is still beautiful…even after you remove your rose-colored lenses.
The cover of the book was designed entirely by myself. If you look at the top line, it is myself looking at the many different circumstances I faced over the 5 1/2 years that these poems were written in. If you take a look at the bottom line, it is my healed-self watching all of these experiences and circumstances back from a more understanding, and even healed perspective.
In less than a month this book will be yours… I hope you enjoy it as much as I have writing it, putting it together, experiencing it, and healing from it…. When you read this… if you read this… read it with the thought in mind that I understand you and I connect with you… none of us are alone.
With great love always,
M.H. John