Hi! I’m Danielle Holian. I’m a Galway girl. I dabble into a variety of different creative media fields of journalism, photography, songwriting, marketing, and I have just released a debut book of poetry.
Mental illness is something I’m familiar with. For many years I suffered in silence because I felt admitting parts of me weren’t okay meant I failed as a daughter, sister, friend. I had withdrawn from life and felt I had no purpose to continue. But, after I left school I went into college and life began to surprise me. My career began to take off in the media field, and I was exploring this new found life.
Life then took a turn for the worst during this time. No one was prepared for the aftermath of my experience with sexual assault, depression, and I developed post-traumatic stress [PTSD]. I mean, I wasn’t either. All the hardships and trying to build my life again was possibly one of the hardest things I had to do for myself.
I was battling a war inside my mind. It’s taken me a long time to recover. Recovery and healing is a full-time commitment to myself. I knew I had to reconnect with my family, friends and the world itself. This leads me to find comfort in my creativity.
My creativity has saved me. It grounds me back to my inner self. To what’s important to me. I’m a big believer in loving yourself because self-love proves to help others, you must love yourself first. So this journey is hard and wonderful. In the process of this, I began to journal and the birth of my debut book, Beautifully Chaotic, was created.
Beautifully Chaotic, was heavily inspired by the Me Too movement and mental health, while showing a progression from isolation to survival. When I began this project, I never imagined it to see the light of day. I use my writing as a way to process my feelings and as time went on, things began to connect and the entire book was conceived. I created each poem with an expression of empowerment, love, and truth. I needed to heal and this book allowed me to.
Galway’s iconic locations inspired me to express my thoughts in the shadows of historic buildings and alongside the beautiful waterways. While writing my debut book I was able to relax and take it all in, and it empowered me to look forward to the future. The people, picturesque places, and just feeling at home is the main reason I don’t ever want to move away. Well, maybe just for a holiday. I think being around the creative culture in Galway has inspired me to keep on being creative and in the media field, for personal reasons and my future career.
You can find Danielle on Facebook (missdanielleholian ), and Twitter and Instagram (danielleholian_ ).
Get your copy of Beautifully Chaotic, here.
