Reasons to be Writing
Wellness Therapy at its Cheapest and Finest
Ten years ago, I had an accident at work which resulted in years of spinal surgeries and recoveries. I was a teacher and a writer who was not teaching or writing. I attended a workshop on Writing for Wellbeing and that began my step by tiny step back into writing.
Pencil and paper were all I needed as I wrote across hundreds of pages about the struggle to accept disability and the joys of beginning anew. I have a wonderful counsellor and amazing medical help, but it is in the writing stuff down that I gain the most wellbeing.
Wellbeing is a popular culture buzz word, but many self-help strategies are dependent on others for help. While people are spending fortunes on spa days and retreats, writing therapy is you relying on you, for free. Much self-help can be exhausting at a time when we have little energy, but writing for our own wellbeing is energising and gives us back control.
It encourages us to be more curious about what’s going on in our own heads, to trust our thoughts and talk to ourselves on the page. Be your best person.
· Exercise one: FREE Writing. (Fast, Raw, Easy.)
Have a five-minute date with your paper and pencil, writing down whatever comes into your head. Don’t think. Write.
When writing for wellbeing we are writing for ourselves. We have the freedom to say anything we want and to be misunderstood without being held to account for it. Writing helps to compartmentalize what’s weighing on our minds, then we can prioritize and be more productive. It’s like giving our head a spring clean. We can read our writing back ourselves, share it with others if it’s not too personal, or we can therapeutically shred the paper to pieces, burn it and watch it fade away.
Exercise Two: Where do you see yourself?
Imagine you met a friend for coffee in a year’s time(or five years’ time?) and they asked the question, How are you? Write down what you would hope that your answer would be. Now, write how you’re going to achieve this by next year.
Professional therapists encourage their patients to write for their wellbeing, so, we know that this works. Dr Daráine Murphy, researcher in youth mental health, states that “Journaling is a very effective technique for people to use to support their wellbeing. It is a safe space for people to express and document how they are feeling, support emotional processing and overall has been shown to be effective at reducing stress and anxiety.”
· Exercise Three: Writing in Nature
Go to your favourite place. (Physically or imaginatively) Write what you can see, feel, hear, smell, taste. Maybe turn it into a poem?
Writing helps us to be courageous, to face up to ourselves. Writing for wellbeing is not only for those who consider themselves writers. (Although many chapters in my novels have evolved from my FREE Writing.) It is for everyone, business people, teachers, medical workers, drivers, parents. It is not professional therapy but works alongside therapy.
Louise Hay in her book You Can Heal Your Life talks about the science of writing down affirmations to reinforce our goals.
Doreen Maher, IACP accredited counsellor & supervisor, tells us “Creative writing is a powerful tool for well-being, offering a space where thoughts can flow freely and emotions can be explored without judgment. Journaling, in particular, transforms scattered feelings into words, bringing clarity, self-awareness, and a sense of inner peace. In writing, we untangle our minds and make room for growth.”
· Exercise Four: Manifesting
If you were granted three wishes, what would they be. Write them down. Choose one and write what you need to change in your life, in order to make that wish come true.
Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together using gold. That is what writing for wellbeing feels like. We can’t mend the broken pieces of life perfectly, but we can make them useable and perhaps more valuable to us.
Stephen King wrote his book On Writing following a major accident and used memoir writing alongside writing advice to help with his recovery. He tells us that writing can enrich our lives, He says about writing that “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
· Exercise five: Write letters
… To your younger self. To someone you have lost. To someone you love and who loves you. To someone who is causing you difficulties.
I write novels and I still write for my own wellbeing. But I also love facilitating workshops to help others find the words. (I’ve been referred to as the Pen Whisperer.) Most of us were lucky enough to learn to read and write from the age of four. As a child we wrote whatever came naturally. We lose that skill as we get older. Find it again and we find ourselves.
Anais Nin said, “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.” So, write for healing, to reduce stress, to remember and to forget. Write down the good stuff and the bad stuff. Discover the power of the pen and write your story.