Nicole K Whittington

Winter Fox Nicole K Whittington

"Winter Fox," is a poetry book that explores living life with mental illness. The inspiration for the name, "Winter Fox," came to me when I saw a video of a fox hunting in the winter. The fox was a little orange creature in a sea of white, blank snow. The fox had to find food in order to survive, so it dug down past the white snow to the ground below it, where it was able to hunt for what it needed to survive. This act reminded me very much of the struggle that comes along mental illnesses. Sometimes it's incredibly difficult to see anything past the white blank snow, (The depression, anxiety, etc.) but we must always remind ourselves that there is more in the world than that. A whole life full of things that can help us survive through the winters of mental illness, we just mustn't give up, we just have to dig. The purpose of "Winter Fox," is three-fold. Firstly it was a therapeutic way for me to explore life with mental illness while also creating something tangible in the process. Secondly, I wanted to publish "Winter Fox," because I want others who are struggling with mental illness to understand that they are not alone; that someone else shares their feelings as well. Lastly, I'd like to help lift the stigma of talking about mental illness in our society. So many of us struggle, and the less we talk about it, the more people feel alone, suffer in silence, or worse. It's time to start these conversations.