The one with soul

Dear Mynd aims to create and encourage conversations around mental health. We do this through stories and that simple fact that connects us all: our human experiences. We are, after all, our stories. And our stories are us.

This episode of Dear Mynd explores the theme of courage in adversity, the sheer dint of self-will and the ability to look at a glass half-full, never half-empty. In his well-loved poem, Invictus, William Ernest Henley touches upon themes such as finding strength in times of loneliness, the importance of always being hopeful, and the acceptance of the realization that we have the ability to control our own fate and destiny. Read it here.

Details of the episode

• The importance of hope and holding on it, especially in difficult times.

• How suffering is often dwarfed by the surety that it is the spirit, not the suffering that is unconquerable.

• That triumph over adversity is not just a thought, but something we can all practise.

Meet the host

Srividya Sivakumar is a reader, a teacher, and a speaker. But what really occupies her mind are those strange things that come hardbound or within soft paperbacks or on a device.  Books. Yes, she’s a self avowed bibliophile and a firm believer in the magic that 26 letters and a few punctuation marks can create.  A critically acclaimed poet, TEDx Speaker and a Voiceover Artist, Srividya believes in using her voice as a vehicle – one that drives change, sparks conversations, inspires calm and encourages you – to slow down, one story at a time.

Poet bio

Poet, critic and editor, William Ernest Henley has numerous collections of poetry including, A Book of Verses and Hawthorn and Lavender. His poetry contains themes of inner strength, and determination. Henley was the editor of the Scots Observer, and the Magazine of Art. 

It is believed that William Ernest Henley is the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s character Long John Silver in Treasure Island.

His poem, Invictus, the one we are visiting today, is the piece he is most identified with.

Resources

To Read:

1. Wild: From Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed
2. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
3. Bewildered by Laura Waters

To Listen:

1. ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
2. ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem
3. ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys

QOTD

How do you navigate the need for social interactions and the need to have solitude?

Write to Srividya – srividya@myndstories.com

Find us on Instagram and LinkedIn.