EXT. DAY: A PLAYGROUND A SMALL GIRL is standing, baffled yet intrigued, by the behaviour of those around her. Whether they’re happy. If strange unconscious forces are at play. What it all means. Her curiosity is piqued…
Everyone has an origins story at the heart of what inspires them.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wondered why people do the things they do.
And so I did what lots of sensitive, self-contained, ‘weird’ kids do; I used my imagination.
I daydreamed. I spaced out. I had conversations in my head (look, I said I was a weird kid) and, by the age of ten, I started to write short stories.
(To be honest, I blame my English teacher Mr Jones for that one. There’s nothing like having a grown man crying with laughter whilst reading your story to the whole class to make a ten-year-old kid think, “Holy shit, this writing lark is amazing!”)
Through local theatre writing workshops and a return to education, I found myself writing (and occasionally directing) short videos. Still curious about why people do the things they do. Little investigation into the actual reasons for it (either with myself or with others).
And then, as so often happens in life, shit happened (AKA my life as I knew it was razed to the ground).
Screenwriters call it Act Two; when the protagonists enters the chaos stage/liminal space necessary for something new to arise.
But God, it was hard. When my second act hit it wouldn’t stop hitting; a collapse into ME/Chronic Fatigue, a free-fall into social isolation, and the loss of identity, love, friends, home, meaning and, frankly, my mind.
(I can still remember lying on my sofa one November afternoon, watching the sky slowly turn to dusk hour by hour. There, amidst the wreckage of my previous life, adrift with neither map nor compass, I knew that if my next breath were my last, no-one would find me. Fun times.)
On the plus side, being utterly incapacitated, socially isolated and physically unable to do anything to distract yourself is a really efficient way to ensure you sit with yourself.
Losing everything gave me the time and space (and the internet) to finally answer that life-long question directly: why DO people do the things they do? More urgently: Why do I do the things I do?
They say we change for two reasons; one we learn enough to want to, and two, it hurts too much NOT to.
Guess where I found myself.
Reluctantly, then resignedly, and then for the last decade enthusiastically, I became the gardener of my life. I reconnected with myself through self-compassion, self-reflection, and self-acceptance, and have built a new life which, while no rose garden, continues to blossom gently.
I’m now an intuitive adviser to others, a compassion-focused positive psychology educator and consultant, and Head of Positive Psychology at The Museum of Happiness.
I’m even consolidating my interest in “the science of what makes life worth living” with an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology, focusing on the concept of “self-as-instrument” – how our own qualities of attention, openness and presence impact others and create our first intervention – in my final year.
This journey took self-compassion, positive psychology, new friendships, rekindling old passions, owning what it means to be Highly Sensitive (HSP), and reconnecting to my spiritual path.
I find joy in the little things, and nothing makes me happier than messing about and being creative – be it with words and making funnies (like I said, Mr Jones has a LOT to answer for), with my hands (designing and sewing clothes is a passion), or with ideas.
And I’m curious about how my story will unfold next.
Anya x
Inspiration & Studies
I’m hugely inspired by the work of Brené Brown, Kristen Neff and Michael Neill, and am an accredited/certified EFT practitioner, trained NLP in Business practitioner, and reiki master. To learn more about my influences and studies, click here.
Writing & Production credits
I started out as a student scriptwriter, and I was shortlisted by Channel 4 and the BBC whilst briefly freelancing for the Scotsman and What’s On as a theatre critic.
After a long break I learned to write for a whole new audience through blogging and copy-writing, and was selected by Hay House for their inaugural Diverse Wisdom initiative in 2018.
I now write blog posts and newsletters for the Museum of Happiness, a non-profit which shares the art and science of happiness in fun and playful ways. Click here for the back-catalogue.
Let The Love In 