Mary Jane Nealon- Poet , Writer, Nurse

.In this episode of Mad Creative , Mary Jane Nealon, an author, poet, activist, and nurse, brings forth her two pillars of life and writing: joy and suffering. Leyden initiates the conversation by inquiring about Mary Jane Nealon's perspective on writing about the human condition. Her memoir about her time as a nurse during the Aids epidemic is titled : Beautiful Unbroken: One Nurse's LifeMary Jane Nealon dives into the struggle that many creatives face when attempting to find time for personal projects. She emphasizes that fear of failure often accompanies the process of creating these projects,..The conversation delves into Mary Jane Nealon's writing process and practices, exploring her writing life and the huge influence her father had on her.Drawing from her experiences as a nurse, Mary Jane Nealon shares insights from her work with young people battling catastrophic illnesses and her time in an AIDS hospital unit during the peak of the epidemic. She discusses the poems and essays that emerged from those periods, revealing how the vivid mental images from that time will continue to shape her future writing.Mary Jane Nealon recounts a poem that took her 23 years to develop in her mind, yet only a few minutes to put on paper.While her writing often does a deep dive into dark themes, Mary Jane Nealon explains how it contributes to her healing process and helps her find hope .Mary Jane Nealon explores her unconventional approach to starting a writing project, revealing that it doesn't commence with a blank page.As the conversation progresses, Ed and Leyden find common ground in their lack of entusiasm for small talk, establishing a common bond among their differences on approaching the creative process.