On Writing the Difficult Things

"If Buddhists believe life is suffering, then writers must be Buddhists." ~ Spotted on a magazine.

I spent my Sunday writing a difficult piece. It was quite emotional and I had to step away several times to rehydrate. I have not published it as of yet. It is not finished. No matter how much time passes, certain things can keep hold of you.

During one break, I talked with a friend who I haven't spoken with in almost a year. She has been through an awful lot of hardships, from escaping a cult to the suicide of her ex husband and father of her children after she and the kids escaped his abuse.

She has a lot of stories, and can help many people with them. She has this thing, however, where she freezes when she writes. She get a sentence down then the numbness washes over her and completely removes all emotion from the piece. She realizes it's something she needs to break through, but therein lies the difficulty.

When you have something that is difficult to write, that is the story that needs to be written. It needs to come out of you, you are blocking it and suppressing it deep within. You do not want to have to fully face it, which is what you're doing when you have the words on the paper before you, ready to be sent out into the world. Writing is a form of healing. It can be better than therapy in many ways.

The story that is most difficult to write is also the story that will help someone else.

To break through this emotional block, start by being true and honest with yourself, and fully realizing what this story means to you. Remind yourself that emotion suppression is bad for your health. It's breeds toxicity that become a cancer that will grow and eventually consume.

Writing is healing. Writing through turbulent emotions helps you sort the experiences so that you may find hidden meanings in what you had to go through. Writing is an arena which allows you to process failed relationships and recover from loss and grief in a non judgmental haven. Writing allows you to dump unnecessary emotions you no longer need to carry around, and shine a bright light of compassion and understanding into your past pain.

You won't know where you're going until you know where you are. Writing helps clarify issues and bring perspective to your life.

Start by "automatic writing." Take pen to paper and just write about where you are in life right now for ten to fifteen minutes. Don't think or edit spelling and grammar- just write. Never censor your thoughts.

This is only for you. Do this daily to help you overcome emotional blocks to writing. Using this exercise will help you overcome the darkness, and shine inner light into the soul of your words and emotions.