ONE of the (many) reasons I have made it my mission to promote journaling and memoir writing is because of writing’s proven ability to help us heal. In my article, Why Write? Making Meaning of the Meaningless, I wrote about how we can use journaling to help us see meaning in all life events, even those that are the most difficult or painful (though sometimes we need the distance of time to do so). Writing works so well because it provides a way to speak about the unspeakable, to look back and understand how we’ve grown because of our experiences, and/or simply by gives us a place to get it all out.
Many of us have stories about how writing has helped us get through hard times, or process and heal wounds caused by past traumas. Now, Kendra and Matilda over on womensmemoirs.com have launched a new category called Writing and Healing where you can send (and share) your short personal stories about how writing has helped you heal. (Now why didn’t I think of that?) They’ve posted two stories so far. If you have a chance, hop on over and read them. And if you have a story about how journaling and writing memoir have helped you heal, share it. Then come back here and post a link in the comments so we can keep the stories of healing flowing.
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Image credit: Cornelia Kopp
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