To my beloved readers, Wishing you joy and wonder in this season of grace. In gratitude, Amber Lea Starfire – P.S. I will be on “blog vacation” between Christmas and the New Year. I believe that even the Internet needs a break now and then. Blessings to you all. _________________________________ – – […]
TODAY, I’m pleased to interview, Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D, author of The Power of Memoir–How to Write Your Healing Story, Don’t Call Me Mother, and Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story. Linda Joy has been a therapist in Berkeley for over thirty years, and combines her background in art, clinical work, and writing in her work. Watch the three-part video of the interview and/or read the written version below.
FINDING your “writing voice” is a hot topic among those who are learning the writing craft (and what writer is not always learning his or her craft?). I even teach an online class about it (more about that later). Still, writing voice is a controversial topic, because there are so […]
Did you know that journal writing, in addition to helping you make meaning of life’s events, can help improve your communication with others? Whether we’re writing or speaking, our goal is to communicate our thoughts and feelings. When journal writing, you have the freedom to bring up vague ideas and give them definition and form, to surface buried feelings and examine and nurture them into a shape that makes sense.
Inside each of us is a deep well of creative energy, and writing is one way to pump this creativity to the surface. For example, we can use writing prompts to give our imagination a workout, for fun, or as exercises to warm up to our intended writing tasks. Once […]
BECAUSE of the reflective nature of personal journal writing, it can have a meditative, sacred quality to it. For this reason, I recommend having a special place for your journal writing. It doesn’t need to contain fancy furnishings, but the best place to write is where you are will not […]
GIVEN my preference for journaling and writing on the computer rather than writing by hand, I thought a recent Wall Street Journal article, “How Handwriting Trains the Brain” (10/5/2010), was interesting. The gist of the article was that the practice of handwriting improves the ability to develop and express ideas. […]
JOURNAL WRITING has many purposes, but it is probably best known for its ability to help us process emotions — especially emotions that we consider negative or painful. I believe that when we resist our emotions, avoid, suppress, or ignore them because they are negative or painful, they don’t go away but lodge in our bodies. On the other hand, writing through emotions allows us to fully feel them, process them, and move (or express) them through and out of our bodies, resulting in healthier emotional and physical states of being.
Writing Through Life interviews K.M. Weiland, author, editor, and writing consultant. Ms. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in western Nebraska and has recently released a CD titled Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.
Journal writing helps you explore how your responses to events in the past affect your life in the present. Reflecting on how you have reacted to past experiences and the subsequent results can help you understand what is and is not working in your life. This understanding brings with it the opportunity to take future actions that are healthy rather than harmful, helping you to grow as an individual. To be who you want to be.
I LOVE browsing blogs to see what other people are journaling about, because they either give me new ideas or remind me of ones I’d forgotten about. Affirmations. Another wonderful reason and way to journal!
WHEN it comes to writing, and this includes journal writing, we all have times when we second-guess or doubt ourselves — usually when we’re well into a project or have embarked on a new commitment. In my experience the very best way to move through those periods of writing-related insecurity — well, any form of self-doubt, actually — is to write about it. Here’s how.
