Emotional Writing
Thus begun a new Chapter
It all started on one gloomy day in December. It was colder than I expected. I considered it as an outwardly manifestation of my melancholic moods. I was hoping for a ray of hope like a sunshines through the cloudy sky. I was mindlessly browsing through the various articles hoping that some would save me.
My prayer wasn’t left unanswered.
I found it in the unusual of places — though of the expected might. I was reading through the lifestyle of an author — I have not heard of and the secretive routine that he has been maintaining for well over half a century. I was impressed by the consistency though it pulled me into more anxiety and proved to be an evidence of my inconsistency rather than being a motivator.
I continued to read.
The article read…
“He writes for almost three hours with only 5-minute breaks.
Writing is his daily ritual. Without writing, his soul is empty.
The process of writing is soothing and cleansing. It allows him to mesmerize himself and reach a deeper state of mind.”
For me the excitement came not because of his success of his routines or his amazing output of novels. But rather this particular sentence
‘Without writing, his soul is empty.’
I took to writing immediately. More so, I took to write an entire book on emotional writing.
Art of Expressive Writing
See, I wasn’t a new comer to the art of expressive writing or freewriting — as it is sometimes called. I have been knowingly or unknowingly practising writing to gain clarity and even heal. Mark Levy, the famous author of ‘Accidental Genius’ gave a name to the process ‘Freewriting’ and helped me give a professional definition and defined techniques for it.
I did do it many variety of ways in various forms in my word document, online, digital, on Evernote and even journaling analog in writing in my diary/ notebooks.
But I had problem with consistency let alone the feeling of success I was getting at it. I even run a successful personal writing blog to publish my work pooled from my various writing materials. But something seriously did miss and I wasn’t simply able to continue the practices.
I am figuring that the practice was more an extension of my professional want rather than stemming from my personal need. The time had to mature for the opportunity came to use it for my own personal being and doing.
Thus a new chapter begin.
All it took was a minute, a simple affirmation of the message already known. As said by T.S.Eliot,
‘We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ — T. S. Eliot
I guess I am back to the same place. While it motivates me to realize like Santiano from Alchemist realizing the treasure was after all right under his foot in his own place — it is also frustrating for me because all along I knew the secret but failed to see it even when it was right in front of my eyes.
I only can console myself — for at least I have saved myself the journey around the world, I at least discovered it at least now. And I thank the universal gifting me with the discovery.
And I share this message to you for the very same reason. You may by reading this post may not feel that connect of starting the practice immediately or having the strength to build the consistency of habit to keep it going. But I suggest you to learn this trick NOW. And when time comes you will know it use it.
Emptiness in the Modern World
The pleasure of writing was not in having the readers read the work, but writing it. It is not about writing for others to read, but writing for oneself to heal.
It is very same reason you have so many budding writers who wants to start their career in writing. While there are those misinformed who wants easy fame to attain by writing, there are those who sincerely feel that their creative flow to be satisfied by writing a book.
Have you seen so many books used by various on Amazon on how to write?
But for me the understanding of the situation is quite different. It is not that so many of us want to be ‘writers’ but we want to be ‘expressed’. It does not involve readers reading our book — for the book reach the bestsellers list on Amazon or any where else.
I feel that there is an emptiness in the modern world — a lack of space and time to allow expression — to let the right brain express. In the highly over dominated world of left-brain, there is vacuum made for the right brain to express. With our society becoming highly introverted and individualization growing there is lack of community among us making a huge gap for us all to express in safe and secure manner.
Prayers were invented as a technique to serve this purpose partially to have a conversation with an unknown entity, more importantly the entity was ever-knowing, non-judgemental and healing. We had communal gatherings that gave way to have this expression possible in some ways.
But it is lacking in today’s civilization growth. In the name of analytical view of the world, we have forgotten the emotional world in the inside.
Writing, I strongly believe, is the alternative solution for it.
However, do you know that the practice itself is not new.
History of Emotional Writing
Marcus Aurelius is considered one of the greatest Roman Emperors of all time. We know about him through various contemporary historians and more importantly about his wisdom from his seminal book simply titled ‘Meditation’. Ryan Holiday considers it as one of the key literary outputs on Stoic Philosophy. It’s praised for its simplistic style and demenaour that renders itself to be appeal to the masses.
While that said, Marcus Aurelius never begun his evening writing as the one to be published. He was merely journaling or suggesting himself on great truths and to remind himself of the perennial values that lives beyond time. Professor Pierre notes that journaling has been a common practice among the Greek and Roman world — so widely noted he puts in his list of spiritual exercises along side other great techniques like premeditation of evil, amor fati and many others.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, considered to be father of Transcendal movement in America had a habit of writing continuously for 1–2 hours in the early morning. He says during those time God speaks to him and he is simply a transcriber of such silently spoken words. His essay ‘Self Reliance’ considered as one of the greatest American, if not the world literature, is pooled out from him early morning writings.
If you have noticed almost all great leaders, politicians, commanders, writers, authors, poets, artists, inventors have been known to take serious documentation of their inner working life. Gandhi has been known to journal profusely throughout his life time which has led us to understand the inner working of this great man. Besides him, the other great politicians whose journal is widely available in Abraham Lincoln. Let alone great authors who had a regular schedule to spend some quality time for journaling.
The reason why these famous personalities kept a note, often accurate and precise note of their thinking is seldom conspicous. But however, I judge that rather than them being great made them to keep the journal, it is the habit writing that must have kept them a great and famous, of course besides other great qualities we adore them for.
No, we are not going to be the next great revolutionary or world leader. But what I am suggesting is that journaling, particularly emotional writing, would help you in bringing clarity to your life, aid you heal and live a good life — both for you and for the people around you.
As said by Jim Rohn,
‘The greatest service you can do to the world is personal development.’
And I suggest what better way to do it than to heal yourself through writing.
