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Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Hi all,

I have found throughout the course of my life that writing has been a constant companion to me. It has provided me with a way to vent my frustrations, to grapple with the eternal verities of life that confound and delight me, to explore ideas and concepts, and to try to put into words the often chaotic moods and thoughts that result from having a mind that's a little bit odd...

I have written lots of poems, especially in the last 3 or 4 years, dealing with depression and bipolar. They help me to process and understand some of the things that are happening in this twisted little noodle of mine. As such, writing has become one of my main forms of therapy.

One of the best things that I find about writing is that it can act as a kind of mood diary. I can read things that I had previously written, and it will quite often map out where I was at during the time of writing. The words I spread across the page act as signposts of my progress, too. As my self knowledge increases and my life journey progresses, I find that it affects how I write and what I write...

Often, we do not see the thousands of tiny little changes to our selves that our life experiences cause over the years. It can be very helpful to re-read old writings, in order to see how far we have come, what we have improved, where we have fallen back into old harmful habits, and the things that we have learned.

The language that we use in our writings and in our thoughts and in our speech is very important. It can reveal a lot about our selves, our states of mind, and our moods...

That language, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe that we attract certain kinds of people around us, and create (or at least influence) life situations based on our choice of language. It helps define who we are as a person.

Negative thinking, self-deprecation, self-hatred, these sorts of dangerous life traps are often revealed in our choice of words. So too are the positive things. It all starts with a glass. How we describe the glass and the quantity and quality of its contents, that's where language comes into it, and it can shape our very lives and the lives of those around us.

Writing... it is my solace and my main tool of self-analysis. It is my favourite form of therapy...

2932 replies

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In response to: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Yay @BlueBay 😊

That sounds great ❣

And yes, you are much stronger than you realise yet. You will probably understand more about that later, when you feel stronger, and look back over the poems you have written. That is when it will be clear to you how strong yo have been.

I hope you get out for a walk with Jersey today.

🌺

In response to: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy


@1stepup61 wrote:

Hey, it's great to have a passion like you have with writing. I do a lot of journaling to unravel my thoughts it's my private place where I can say what I want. I would like to find a passion though that I could share! i shall ponder this! Bye


Hi @1stepup61! Lovely to e-meet you. Passion for something in life, that is the secret to a fulfilling and joy-filled life...

We all have passions, even in the depths of our depressive miseries or fear-laced anxieties. They are a lot harder to find, though, but they are always there, waiting to be reintroduced to our lives...

If you know anything about vibrations (or vibes as I call them), you start to listen out for them. You walk into a room, and you feel vibes. Rooms have vibes. People have vibes. The sound of the crowd has vibes...

Everything has vibes... even emotions...

Well, there's a funny thing about vibrations. There are things called "resonant frequencies". Musicians and architects especially know about resonant frequencies. That is when the vibrations are at just the right rate to elicit the maximum result, as the vibrations are amplified by the thing vibrating in response...

There's an old story about a bunch of soldiers marching across a new bridge. It was in Angers, France, in 1850 if WikiPedia can be believed... hahaha...

The bridge did not have correct vibration dampening or anti-torsion design or somesuch nonsense, and the entire bridge had a resonant frequency which, unfortunately for the soldiers, was at the frequency they were marching at, and the bridge collapsed...

If you've ever been on a suspension bridge, you know, one of those Indiana Jones rope bridge thingies... then you know to be careful to stay away from a rhythm of movement that makes the bridge jump higher or swing further each time...

That's kinda resonant frequency stuff... Just like the pendulum motion of a swing set when you are swinging your legs and arching your back at the right time to swing ever higher...

You are matching vibrations for maximum effect...

Hahaha...

It's all about them vibes. They can crash bridges, but they can also build them...

I believe that having bipolar or anxiety or depression or PTSD or OCD or [insert any mental health issue] is a bit like having a whole bunch of mood and thought resonant frequencies. If the vibe we get from a particular trigger or life situation hits at that resonant frequency, it sets us off, wildly emotional, vibrating ever higher...

Life is sometimes about finding ways to dampen those frequencies that kick off inside us, so that they don't vibrate us into a collapse like with the poor soldiers on the bridge...

I find that the "vibe" way of looking at things has its advantages. It is a pleasant projection of subjective reality upon the blank canvas reality of the Really Real...

And that brings me back to passion. When we are truly engaged passionately with something that we love - it can be anything from art to fixing a mortorbike (which is an art in itself - very Zen... hahaha...)...

[Aside to @GonePirate - Dude! How's the bike goin'? All sparkling and shiny new?]

Passion. That feeling you get. When you are vibrating in unison with something that really sparks your full interest and investment in life... it's a powerful feeling. It's a wonderful feeling...

I hope you find lots of passion in your life @1stepup61. I hope that for everybody...

Even chores can be turned to passions, given the right approach. Break it down and find things to enjoy... find ways to vibrate with them vibes that are everywhere...

Hugs and happy vibe beaming to you all... 🙂

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Hi @Silenus

@I picked up a book at an airport a few years ago called "A Perfect Mess" (Eric Abrahamson, David H. Freedman) that was a very interesting read .... might appeal to you. It talks about stochastic resonance, as in that small element of chaos that exists naturally within a seemingly otherwise perfect order. It's that little bit of difference that means everything doesn't stay exactly the same perpetually - it's a force for change, a creativity that that brings something new into the equation, forcing new balances to form.

Its that space where new ideas form, "happy accidents" occur, and freshness washes in from - think of a tidal rockpool if you like, receiving random top-ups with incoming tides.

What appealed to me most about this book was that it lauds a bit of clutter, a not-perfectness about the world in general, and about our individual living-space worlds within the cosmos. It talks about order where you don't expect to find it ..... Take a "messy" desk for instance. If you change your perspective a bit, it's not actually a messy desk ..... it's a "busy" desk ..... with an unstructured form of order about it. The things you last accessed are the things closest to the top of the pile that's on the desk. The things you used a few days ago will be just under that layer, things accessed a week before that are another layer down. In other words, it's a naturally forming vertical filing system. That's why some people who seem a bit messy are actually the most "on top of things".

I tell you what, that really took a load of guilt off in terms of my housekeeping, right there !!!

And the kids I thought were disordering our home are actually creating trails of their own personal type of order all over our home. Doesn't look the prettiest most of the time, but if you think about it, it is perfectly functional. You will find the most frequently used items scattered about the place, and people muttering aloud, "where was I last using that thing ?" or "let me see ....... where did I last put that down ?"

Its all in the way we view things, exactly as you keep saying 😊

In response to: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

I love it @Faith-and-Hope !!!

I so agree... embrace the chaos (in a balanced way... giggle...)...

I love your organic approach. Often, I was the person who had everything neat and ordered. That's the ObSeSsIvE cOmPuLsIvE dIsOrDeR coming through, I guess... hahaha...

I will check out A Perfect Mess... thanks for that gift...

Huge hugs... 🙂

In response to: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Tonight I'm feeling sad
It's just really bad
I feel so alone
Lying in bed using my phone

I write this poem to you
Because I feel so blue
My thoughts are everywhere
I'm here with this stare

There's more emotions to let out
Maybe I need to run about
If I could stop this thought
That my mind has just bought

I feel so tired and low
Not sure if it's time to go
I really want to stay
And live by the bay

The kids are all grown up
They don't need me to stuff up
I feel alone without them
For my life was all about them

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Hi @BlueBay

@I am sorry you are feeling down tonight, but I am super-glad you are writing more poetry .....

Has it occurred to you that you are giving other people a voice when you do this ? There are other people who feel the way you do, but not all of them can write poetry the way you can, to get it all out of their mind and heart onto the page. Just reading your poems, and identifying with them, it becomes an expression for them as well, through your gift of sharing your poetry with all of us here.

I really hope your poems can be published one day. They can help so many people to spill all the pain and hurt out and let the healing in. There will be some who can't leave their homes to walk on the beach with a beautiful dog like your Jersey. Have you realised that ? The same way I am loving the way you share that, they will too.

Be well @BlueBay, and please keep sharing your wonderful poems, even if they are sad. We need sad poems sometimes too, to help us cry out our hurt and let the healing in that way as well.

💜

In response to: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

@faithandhope
It's just hit me that my kids don't need me. There all old enough in their 20's and two have partners. They don't depend on me anymore.
I so loved it when they were babies but now they're all grown up.
I've just realised and I feel sad.
Just thought of another poem about trying to fall pregnant. Took me 5 yrs. so much pain. I'll do that one tomorrow.
Thanks for helping me see that my poems may help others. I never thought of that.

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

We are reaching that stage of life too @BlueBay, where all our children are growing up and moving on. I'm not far behind you !!

Its called "Empty Nest Syndrome" and we all come to that time eventually. It's that space in between your kids leaving home, and then when they bring grandchildren back to be babysat by you lol (if that's where life takes them).

It is important to start thinking about what to do with the time that you used to spend running after the kids, and start running after yourself again .... you have Jersey of course, and now perhaps a poetry book to write 😊

Some people start with volunteer work, at schools, or charities, that sort of thing.

Perhaps there is an RSPCA near you ? Or zoo ? Or animal shelter ? Or library ?

Think a little bit about what your interests are, and whether you would like to give back to the community some way. Even things like "Clean Up Australia Day" or SES call for volunteers I think ... anyway a local community centre would probably know.

See how you feel, and take it from there maybe ?

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Hi Silenus, thanks for your reply. I will read up about resonate frequencies, I did not know about that! I would like to learn about Reiki one day, maybe that can be my passion. I wrote more than this but when I posted it ate all of it up! So, I'm signing off and I will go to my other browser which seems to be better than this one.Bye,step up.

In response to: Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

Re: Writing As A Form Of Therapy

From the time I was about 12 yrs old all I ever wanted to do was to get married and have children. I so much wanted to be a mum. Well it wasn't that easy. It took 5 years of trying to fall pregnant. Lots of heartache and lots of tears. Even now while writing this has brought so many memories and tears.

My baby:

A mum is all i wanted to be

for everyone to see

but it wasn't going to be that quick

as I give the pregnancy kit the flick

I tried for 5 whole years

with lots and lots of tears

and all i could see

was no baby for me

All the injections, tests and scans

for there was no reason to ruin my plans

of being a mum

i so wanted one in my tum!!

My sister had two children in that time

And I was jealous I was still in my prime

I loved her kids so much

And now I wanted a child in a rush

I remember sitting down one day

and crying so much I started to pray

I asked God if He would give me

a child and that would please me

After one year of seeing a naturopath

and taking her meds and herbs

I thoughts if this doesn't work

then that's it for me

I remember this day so clearly

I raced to the doctor freely

and asked for the test to be done

i didn't know if this was going to be fun

But when i saw the + sign

I knew it was my time

to be a mum

I'm going have a baby in my tum

The precious night came

of when I knew it would be insane

The rush, the pain, the excitement

of me being a mum

And then they held you on me

I could see you weren't that free

They put you in a crib

and from there you grew

I couldn't believe my eyes

when i saw you and knew you were mine

how i still remember that night

of when i gave birth to this little girl

So this is for you

my beautiful baby

you are now 24 yrs old

and a beautiful young lady

xxxxxoooo

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