Get it all out if you can’t let it all go — Five free writing ideas

CP
CP
Nov 4 · 4 min read

“Just let it go”. That’s what we’re told, all the time. The principle is so simple. But simple doesn’t mean easy.

It’s not easy for two reasons. One, ‘it’ is never one isolated thing, distinct, shiny and packaged. Whatever ‘it’ is, is inevitably tangled up and connected to all sorts of other things in your mind. And two, in my experience, when I’ve let things go, it’s not been at my command. Something has come into my awareness, there has been a sense of acceptance and poof, it’s gone — taking itself off without any help from me.

So I say, let’s focus on getting it all out, which is something we do have control over. By getting ‘it’ all out, into our awareness, we can accept or seek to resolve whatever comes up.

A great way to do this is by writing. Journaling is great and I’m over the moon to see so many articles sharing the power of writing. For me though, journaling can be a bit like reporting, which can be really useful, but doesn’t always get the perspective you might need, or the insights to help make things different.

I recommend dialoguing, which is a writing technique I picked up from several sources including ‘Journal to the Self’ by Kathleen Adams.

With all these exercises, use the usual principles of free writing: don’t worry about spelling, grammar or sense, keep your pen moving and if you drift off topic, go with it.

  1. Talk to yourself

Have a conversation with a part of yourself. For example, a part of you that’s feeling resistant to something. The key here is to give the resistance a voice in order to find out what’s behind it. It’s important to write from the resistance, so you become it (and of course, you are it). A prompt might be: ‘[your name], I’m your resistance and I’d like you to know…’.

Often we try and man up and override feelings of fear, hesitancy etc. That might be necessary sometimes but sometimes it can keep us stuck in something.

Just letting that part of you have its say is really powerful and in my experience will always move you forward in some way. Of course you can respond and get into a bit of a conversation, maybe even negotiating a compromise, but most importantly, there should be no interrupting, on either side.

2. What does the wardrobe think?

You could also try dialoguing with an inanimate object. It sounds a little odd at first, but try it. If you’re in a dilemma about something, ask your favourite book/bike/piece of furniture to let you know what it thinks — it can be surprising.

The prompt here might be: ‘I’m your [insert item] and here’s what I think…’.

3. Jerry Springer

If you’re feeling brave you can take it up a notch or two. I created what I now call my ‘Jerry Springer’ exercise where you can bring in multiple voices (trust me, they’re all in there). I once imagined (via writing) being on Jerry Springer, the two parts of me in conflict (about where to live at the time) were brought onto the stage. To my surprise and amusement, as well as having those two parts of me in conversation, I then became several members of the audience and at one point, actually brought myself out onto the stage! Of course, they’re all me but bring such different perspectives.

To get started with this one, have Jerry welcome the two parts of you on the stage and see what happens.

That’s the wonderful thing about writing. You can surface all these parts of you that just don’t get heard. The good, the bad, the ugly, the fun, the amazing. You may find your cheerleader, the devil on your shoulder, the strict guardian, the adventurer and many more. They all have a job and if you ask them what they need/want you to know you may be really surprised. You may also find that some voices have an echo of a voice you no longer want to have running the show, for example a strict parent, or a punishing teacher.

In coaching, I often have people develop these aspects of themselves, really defining each character so that they can be checked in with for advice or appeased with some words of comfort.

4. How do you feel?

You can also dialogue with your feelings, which is great, especially if writing brings up feelings in the first place. Start with writing about the feeling. Where it is, what does it feel like, what colour is it, shape etc. Anything that describes it physically. When writing to the feeling you can ask what it needs you to know, or you can write from the feeling telling you about what it wants. Whatever works for you. Again, you can get into a back and forth which can go on for as long as you need. I’ve had some dialogues that I’ve continued over weeks, dipping back in when I feel the urge.

Prompt: ‘I’m [insert emotion], and I need…’

5. Where does it hurt?

You can dialogue with your body too. If you have a persistent pain, something that you’ve got used to living with: a bad back, regular headaches, a stiff joint, start first with describing the pain in detail to get in touch with it, then ask it what it needs you to know.

Prompt: ‘I’m your [body part], and I feel…’.

I don’t claim to know the science about how this all works, but I can tell you that writing, and dialoguing in particular, can really start to unlock those connections and surface new insights.

So give it a go, and have fun with it! Let me know how you get on.

Picture by brandi-redd-122054 on Unsplash

For more from me, go to:

dearlucy.blog

cpsdayoff.com

Instagram @cpsdayoff @enjoyatreetoday @findmyfunny

Written by

CP

I’m passionate about free writing, whether for self-reflection or to encourage writing itself. I currently write a blog, ‘Dear Lucy’ More info at cpsdayoff.com.

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