EMMETT, Idaho — Emmett High School junior Paisley Warren has focused on transforming her mental health struggles into a powerful poetry project designed to help others.
Warren's personal journey led her to create 60 original poems that eventually became a senior project completed a year early.
"It was kind of like an outlet for me," Warren said.
Watch to learn more about Paisley's poetry journey
Warren always harbored dreams of becoming an author, though she never expected her first book would emerge from her personal struggles.
"I always wanted to write a book, but I hadn't really thought about actually making it happen; it was always like a childhood dream, if you will," Warren said.
Her interest in poetry developed during the eighth grade, evolving from an unexpected source.
She started by writing songs and quickly realized her love for lyrics.
"This is kind of more like poetry than it is like actual songs because I can't write music, and so that's kind of how the poetry thing took off," Warren said.
Warren's early poetry exposure came from childhood memories of her mother reading Shel Silverstein books, but she didn't seriously pursue poetry until her teenage years.
"I didn't get into the poetry thing until like, I want to say eighth grade is when I started writing poetry," Warren said.
Warren's poetry emerged from a difficult period in her life spanning several years.
"I had probably about 3.5 years from around 7th grade to like mid-freshman year where I was kind of, suffering from my own personal depression, and I've had like anxiety issues since I was really little. I'm a chronic overthinker," Warren explained.
The writing process became therapeutic, helping her work through complex emotions during challenging times.
Warren's collection of poems, titled "The Anatomy of a Heavy Heart," caught the attention of school trustee and Rotarian Terry Jones, who invited her to present her project to the Emmett Rotary Club this week during Suicide Prevention Month.
"It's a tough time for kids," Jones said.
Jones was impressed by Warren's initial presentation and her approach to the difficult subject matter.
"When she first made her thirty-second presentation, she was outstanding. I was impressed with her work ethic, with her physical appearance, and particularly the command of the subject," Jones said.
Despite being only a junior, Warren was cleared to complete her senior project early. Her presentation initially made her nervous, but the outcome surprised her.
"I am a junior in high school. I was planning on graduating this year. I'm just graduating a year early. Unfortunately, I don't have enough elective credits to be able to do that, but I still was cleared to do my senior project this year anyway," Warren said.
Warren described her presentation experience with characteristic honesty about her anxiety.
"I was really nervous, and I was also overthinking in that moment because I remember I would make eye contact with the kids in the class and the panel members, and I remember I would look at them, and they were all just like completely deadpan and I genuinely thought that they were not interested," Warren said.
The reality was quite different from her fears.
"Everybody was congratulating me and telling me how impressed they were, and I just, you know, [it was a] huge confidence boost," said Warren.
Her presentation panel included her teacher, Terry Jones, and former principal Bob Hyde.
For Warren, the goal of her poetry extends beyond personal expression. She hopes her work will help others identify and understand their own struggles.
"A lot of people don't even know that they're having these issues, and they can't quite identify what they're going through. And I'm hoping that this will kind of connect those feelings to people so they can feel like, 'Yes, someone understands. Like that's, that's how I feel'," Warren said.
Warren's poems use metaphorical language to make complex emotions more accessible.
"A lot of my poems are very metaphorical, and they have things to compare it to, and I think that that'll help give people an idea of what that's really like, so they know how to kind of support people that do go through that," Warren said.
She also hopes to help those who haven't experienced mental health struggles better understand others who have.
"I'm hoping that the people that don't understand, will read [the poems] and they'll better understand so that they can kind of reach out to the people that need a voice," Warren said.
Warren expressed pride in how her project has developed.
"I'm very proud of how this has gone," Warren said.
Warren credits 83-year-old Carol Benton as a significant mentor in her life, though their relationship extends far beyond poetry.
"She's 83. She's the cutest old lady. I love her so much. She's kind of like a second grandma to me. I met her doing, service for her," Warren said.
Their relationship began through Warren's church service activities.
"She is in my ward in church. I'm LDS, and my young women's group went and did service for her, and we did her gardens for her, and she was ecstatic about it. She loves having help, she loves talking to the youth," Warren said.
Warren discovered Benton's poetry through a thank-you card.
"That's how I found out that she did poetry," said Warren, "she actually sent a thank you card that was a poem about her little helpers, and it was the cutest thing, and that's kind of how we met," Warren said.
Their relationship has grown into regular visits and meaningful conversations.
"Now I go over there, you know, every few weeks and just kind of like help clean up her house, and I weed her gardens, and sometimes we just sit and chat for hours. We just have a really good relationship," Warren said.
Paisley's mother, Annie Warren, has watched her daughter's journey with both concern and admiration. Seeing her daughter speak so openly about mental health represents significant progress.
"It's never easy to watch your kid go through something that dark. But watching them pull themselves out of it and be open about it and not be afraid to talk about it, being vulnerable, it's a really beautiful thing to see," Annie Warren said.
Warren is pleased with the positive community response to her project and hopes to continue helping others. "I mean, I think everything's been pretty positive. I just hope that, you know, everyone who's interested can reach out if they need a helping hand."
She's particularly encouraged by the ongoing interest from her classmates.
"I hear that they're pretty excited about it, and so I hope that if any of them do have issues like this, that they can feel comfortable coming to me for help," said Warren. "Because I know that as someone who has personally gone through it, I know that it helps to have that connection with people who understand."
As of right now, only four copies of "The Anatomy of a Heavy Heart" exist, which Warren personally printed off herself through Staples.
Warren's next goal is to get "The Anatomy of a Heavy Heart" published and complete her sequel, "The Anatomy of a Healing Heart."
"Well, I gotta get it actually published now. It's gonna take some work, but I have a better understanding of how to do that now, so I'm hoping to get it published, and I actually, ironically, already have kind of a sequel in mind," Warren said.
The sequel will focus on the healing journey.
Warren has also begun sharing her poetry on social media through her Instagram account, @midnightmetaphors_poetry23.
"I told her, you've got to get an Instagram account going, because she really has given a voice to what it feels like to have depression and to live in such an isolated place in your head," Annie Warren said.
As Warren looks beyond high school, she plans to pursue a career in psychology research shortly after a mission trip with the Church of Latter-day Saints. This will allow her to combine her personal experience with mental health and her desire to help others into a professional path.
