Meet Rachel Havekost | Writer and Mental Health Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Havekost and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I first started sharing my story online I had a good balance of privacy and exposition. I was honest without divulging every detail of my life. Once I got divorced a few months later and started moving through grief, I found myself lost with who to turn to or how to process. Writing became a vehicle for mourning. Soon I was sharing much more intimately online, and over the next couple years the line between personal and public, work and private, became blurred. In the last year I’ve made a conscious effort to create new boundaries to re-instill a sense of balance. I am more selective about the content I share, keep people in my life private, and take social media breaks often. I am much happier now with the privacy I have, and, I have noticed that by pulling back I feel less connected to my readers. I am still looking for a happy medium where I can connect with an audience without sacrificing my privacy.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I started writing, there really wasn’t a model for being a “mental health writer.” When I told people that was my job they looked puzzled or at times, disturbed. Stigma remained strong–something I aimed to dismantle in my writing. My mission was to help one person feel less alone: I wanted to break down the shame of silence that permeated our culture in my teens and twenties. A shame I believe exacerbated my illness. I wrote, and still write, unabashedly about my mental health. That includes writing about the shame. I write about suicide, eating disorders, and the nuanced, not-so-black-and-white messy parts of being a human. At the end of the day, my writing is designed to connect us through shared experiences. I’m not here to heal or fix anyone, simply remind them of their humanity, and that they are so very not alone.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For a week in Seattle, I would take my friend to my favorite neighborhoods, a hike outside the city, and a ferry ride. We would do a day in Ballard, exploring Golden Gardens, the shopping strip in Old Ballard, and check out some of the restaurants on the strip for brunch and good cocktails. Greenlake is a great area to do a long walk around the lake, followed by lunch and coffee at Retreat cafe. For a hike, we’d drive out to Issaquah and hike up Poo Poo Point for a sweeping view of the city and to watch the paragliders jump off the mountain. Finally, I’d take them on a ferry ride to Bainbridge to see the city from the water and explore the island’s shops and cafes.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would not be a writer if I hadn’t read Glennon Doyle’s memoir, “Love Warrior.” I was in the midst of a relapse in my eating disorder and questioning my marriage and sexuality, and her book opened my eyes to the possibility that a) I wasn’t alone and b) it was safe to share my story. Her book gave me the courage to write my own memoir, and ultimately, life story.

Website: https://www.rachelhavekost.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachel_havekost

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-havekost/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelhavekost