Bestselling author Rosie Waterland has opened up about how even life’s darkest moments can be turned into something good.
Waterland spoke to 702 ABC’s Richard Glover on Tuesday morning about her career, her mental health and honesty.
The 30-year-old said writing her book made her realise there is no magic solution to processing trauma.
“I kind of felt like, ‘Well, I’ve written about my childhood now and I can literally put it on the shelf. I can close that book and it’s done and I’ve survived and I’m doing amazing,'” she said.
“But then a lot has happened in the year since that has been really difficult and it reminds you that life isn’t as black and white as that. There’s shades of grey and things aren’t always going to be easy.”
Waterland went on to explain how childhood events can impact individuals over the long-term in a variety of ways.
“Especially kids who’ve had childhoods like mine, your mental health is always going to affect you in some way," she said.
Waterland said this was recently brought to a head when she suffered the sudden death of a close friend.
“For kids who grow up without a family, you look for it in other places as you get older and when you have PTSD and trauma from your childhood, there are certain things that trigger you and when you’ve had parents who’ve abandoned you, a big trigger is losing people who are really important to you," she said.
Glover asked the writer what she thought her audience got out of hearing her story.
"I think people do crave reading those kinds of stories where they crave looking into an unimaginable existence that people then survive, so I think that part is interesting to them," she said.
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"I think also though growing up, my sisters and I had to deal with parents who were mentally ill and had these addiction problems but we were also going through universal experiences that all other kids were going through.”
Waterland explained how it's honesty that seems to resonate best with her audience.
“I think something the readers like is that I’m honest with how I’m still dealing with it," she said.
The author also shared how achieving certain measures of success did not guarantee happiness.
“I did this thing that I’ve dreamed of doing my whole life and um, you know I think it’s been an interesting journey the last 12 months seeing that my self-worth isn’t entirely tied up in that,” she said.
"And that all that stuff isn’t actually an answer to the hurt," Glover commented.
"Oh - God no, God no," Rosie agreed.
Waterland said she is still able to channel these negative experiences into producing something good for her audience.
“My friend died and that tipped me over the edge so I’m always going to be dealing with this stuff but I love writing about it and I love performing it," she said.
Rosie Waterland's current show is called My Life On The Couch (with Vodka). Tickets for her November shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide can be purchased here.