A Q&A with Advocate Christalle Bodiford

​Along with being the season for gratitude and premature Christmas decorating, November is Epilepsy Awareness month. To celebrate, artist and epilepsy advocate Christalle Bodiford is releasing her first book, Woosah Warrior. The book contains coloring pages and journal prompts specifically designed for chronic illness warriors, and all designs are brain fog friendly! 

I couldn’t wait to catch up with Christalle and learn more about her book and her experience as an artist with epilepsy. Enjoy this Q&A, and don’t forget to order your copy of Woosah Warrior here. 

​Q: What inspired you to create the Woosah Warrior book?
A: As an artist living with epilepsy, brain fog, trouble concentrating and mood fluctuations have always made it difficult for me to keep up with other artists. Anxiety and overthinking often get the best of me, and I find it a struggle to finish personal creative projects that aren’t linked to my professional clients. In an effort to be creative without feeling overwhelmed, I turned to coloring books as a way to feed my creativity, ease anxiety and rest. 

I tried so many types of coloring books, but I never felt that they helped to accomplish my goals. The books were either too child-like and over-simplified or marketed to adults and contained extremely detailed illustrations. I found myself bored by the children’s coloring books and overwhelmed by the adult coloring books. (Brain fog is no joke, and sometimes the simplest task can feel like too much.)

In an effort to appease my wants and create something for the chronic illness community, I decided to create Woosah Warrior, which combines coloring pages with journaling questions to encourage you to dive a little deeper. I found while coloring children’s books, my mind would wander off; the journal pages provide gentle nudges to bring you back to the present. 

Q: Can you tell me a little about the process you went through in creating the book? 
A: This is my first dive into creating a book, so it was a bit of a bumpy road to get to the finished product. Procrastination due to fear of failure was an overarching theme throughout the process, but I did my best to work through it. I started by coming up with empowering messages for each coloring page and tweaking as needed.

Then, I thought about what type of graphics I wanted to create for each coloring page, and went through a brainstorming process for each page – deciding which style and graphics to move forward with before continuing on to create the journal pages. The journal pages were the easiest part for me to create because they correspond to the adjacent. The messages of empowerment set the tone and flow of my creation process, while keeping me inspired to finish the book.

​Q: How has your experience with epilepsy shaped your art?
A: Epilepsy has shaped my art in a few ways. The first being that I’m more cautious during my design process, meaning I do not include flashing imagery or lights that may trigger photosensitive seizures in some people with epilepsy. Secondly, I began creating clothing and accessory designs for epilepsy warriors, which was never even a thought prior to becoming an advocate for the epilepsy community.

​And last but certainly not least, having epilepsy has shaped the way I work and how many hours I work. I am grateful to be able to work from home part-time now, which has played a tremendous role in decreasing my seizure activity. It has also made me more conscious about the toll my work has taken on my body in the past, which keeps me from falling back into old workhorse patterns.

Q: What's next? Do you have any big projects planned for the future?
A: I’m actually considering a break! I began studying Herbalism this year and would like to take some time to focus on school and for some much needed rest and reflection. The past few years have been a bit of a whirlwind. I felt like I gave so much of myself away without recouping, and I’ve been facing some neuromuscular challenges. I think it’s time to focus on my health and wellness and take a step away from it all. I still intend to release a book sharing my epilepsy story, but I don’t currently have a launch date in mind.