If you believe that everything in life,good or bad, is meant to be, then you will relate to my story.

My name is (Bernard) Alan Penn. I was born in Glasgow, Scotland and came to live in Toronto, Canada in 1989. That’s when I decided to use my middle name, Alan.  In my constant reading of self-development books and posts on Facebook that my friends deemed worthy to share, I came across something that was said that was very profound.

Usually when we go through a bad crisis, something good is always waiting at the end. If that is the case, then get excited about the bad as it means something great is soon going to happen. That way the bad can be endured more if you know that there is a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

This was my experience and I would like to share it with you.

I was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown in 1993 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,

(My second. The first one in Glasgow was the worst. I was suicidal, had several attempts, but by the grace of God, I survived), and while there I had a prompting to write about what I was feeling, in poetry form.  I found out there was a well-known Hamilton radio personality, an elderly lady called Dorothy Smith, who was an award-winning haiku poet. I introduced myself and asked her if she would read my poem. She liked it and came up with the title “An Expression Of Depression.” (It’s featured in my illustrated poetry book called “The Thoughts From Alan’s Penn”).

She then asked me if I knew what a haiku poem was. I had never heard of it.

It was a Japanese style of poetry that limited the number of lines to 3, in a format of

5/7/5 syllables. She suggested I write one so I did… In the dentist’s chair waiting for my tooth and cash to be extracted. I presented it to her and she laughed loudly.

Well as comedians will tell you, laughter is a drug that boosts their spirit.

So that started me on a journey of writing haikus and poems while I was in the hospital and then taking them to her. My mind just buzzed with ideas, so much so that I had a notebook by my bed and when an idea came, I wrote it down and worked on it the next day. (Something I do to this day).

Now I had something to keep my mind occupied, not the worries, fears and insecurities that plagued me through the day. The brain only has room for one thought at a time, so in came the poetry ideas, which claimed permanent residence and out went all the debilitating, negative stuff.

Needless to say, my depression lifted and I was soon discharged.

I began to develop my poetry ideas and after positive reinforcement from my family and friends I shared them with, I realized I had a gift for writing poetry. So out of the depths of depression and hospitalization, was born a talent which I have continued to develop.

For many years after, I had an idea to create an illustrated poetry book for the masses. One that everyone could understand, not the typical deep poems found in most poetry books on the shelves and submitted for nobel prizes. I tried and tried to make it a reality but couldn’t find the right illustrator and I had no clue how to put a book together or publish it.

After recovering from cancer in 2016, I realized that this could be a way to create a legacy and carry on the Penn name (I have no children), something my late father had asked me to do. Once I made the decision and put it out to the Universe, everything came together. I found my illustrators and a self-publishing company, and my book, The Thoughts Of Alan’s Penn came to fruition.

So, get excited about the bad as something good is soon going to happen!