But it's never that simple, which is why a writer writes. Not feeling what you should feel, that's the starting point for wanting to find the words. That's how it works for me, anyway. And I also feel as if the world we live in - the consumer, surface, smiling world - expects us to conform to an imposed idea of mental health.
Which is where 'the blues' comes in. Perky, positive, making it happen - no. Melancholy, moody, lost in your sad, bad feelings - yes. The blues can be a pause in the action, a resting place in gloom. The blues can be the time when you actually stop, and look around. The blues can be a chance to face yourself with something like honesty, and ask yourself the hardest questions.
If you are going to write anything worth writing - if I am - then we need the blues. We might not sing it, though I wish I could, but we can feel it. And write it. Happy people don't need to be writers, and the upbeat mood is great for the cover of a chick-lit book, but not for the inside of a writer's head.
With this in mind, I'll go off to the library with my overdue library book, wearing pink but feeling Goth, and brave the sun.
