Navigating Mental Health: Strategies for Understanding and Coping - By Azalea

Written By: Azalea

Category: Article

Competition: Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

In the realm of creative writing, Azalea’s piece, "Navigating Mental Health: Strategies for Understanding and Coping," stands as a profound exploration into the intricacies of mental health. As part of the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar, this article delves into the personal journey of transforming mental burdens into positive growth. Azalea offers a compassionate perspective on mental wellness, encouraging readers to engage in practices that foster self-discovery and healing.

About the Work

Azalea artfully uses the metaphor of seawater to describe mental illness, portraying it as unwanted burdens we carry. The piece emphasizes the importance of evaporating negativity and embracing positivity through activities like music, meditation, and journaling. It is hopeful, urging readers to find strength in small steps and view challenges as opportunities for purification and growth. The narrative is both comforting and inspiring, inviting readers to imagine their own journey toward mental clarity and wellness.

Navigating Mental Health: Strategies for Understanding and Coping

Original Submission by Azalea

Navigating Mental Health: Strategies for Understanding and Coping

Life is a journey, where we carry the entire thing. It is like seawater, as we do not know the end point, but we still move on like a wave. Mental illness is not a psychological problem, but it is waste that we carry in our minds, just like seawater, which is filled with salt. We human beings are the salt which represents purity. We were born as a cheerful and pure person, but as our journey goes on we carry unwanted stuff, that is water, and we never throw away this stuff, and carry it with ourselves each day. Once it is filled, it will be arduous to carry, but we still keep it to ourselves instead of throwing it away. This water contains all the catastrophic scenarios and the past, which creates self-disgust.

God created our mind at the top of our body, so that it should be a higher self and controls everything (emotions and body parts). Command from the higher self is essential, and it is the one that should control our life, but if the higher self (mind) contains this water, then we lose our entire reality and enter into hell. This hell is called mental illness.

Removing this water is necessary, as it will create further problems. So for that, we have to evaporate the water and bring the salt back to life. The solution is to allow the sun to scorch the heat into our minds. The heat that it generates contains positive thoughts which we can get only from outside. So, doing certain activities will allow positive thoughts into your mind. Listening to soft music is one of the activities. Furthermore, showers for long periods, meditation and even prayer in the early morning will boost you up with positive thinking. You should give your mind some rest instead of putting pressure to it. Writing a journal or gratitude expresses content. You can even write your negative thoughts on a piece of paper and throw it into the dustbin or put it inside the balloon and blow it off. Workouts and exercise gain physical strength. In the same way, doing all these will gain mental strength. Just occupying yourself with some task will reduce the time for negative thoughts.

The choice is in our hands and there are no right or wrong or honest choices. Everyone makes mistakes and every choice we make is a surprise. There is a book titled “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” written by Charlie Mackesy. In it, there is a line which is very beautiful. In this, the boy says that he cannot see anything further. The horse asks, can you see the next step in front of you? And the boy says yes to it. So the surprise is the next step. If we do not take the next step, then how do we know where it will lead to? Each step leads to the crown of life, but in between you will have struggles which will purify you. Gold always goes through extreme heat, then only we can see the beautiful ornament from it. So, you are salt, which is stopped by the water that flooded in our life. Allow the heat to scorch your water and move on to the crown of life, which awaits you.

About the Competition

The Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar is a celebration of diverse voices and creative expression. It invites participants from across the globe to share their unique perspectives through poetry, stories, and essays. This competition fosters a community where creativity thrives and where writers can engage with audiences through compelling narratives and thought-provoking themes.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Azalea for sharing "Navigating Mental Health: Strategies for Understanding and Coping" with us. Your participation in the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 enriches our platform and inspires others. We look forward to seeing where your creative journey takes you next.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.