Writing Will Not Save You
But it may help you understand
There have been a plethora of posts and social media notices lately, for whatever reason, about how writing can set you free, how writing can right your wrongs, telling your personal stories can change your attitude, deliver you to a new place. Writing as therapy. Journaling toward a better you.
In the current state of the world and especially America, we might need salvation, and maybe through writing or some creative endeavor, we can find a kind of peace.
But I have news for you . . .
Writing will not save you.
Counselors and therapists call it therapeutic writing. In a post on the site “Positive Psychology,” the author tries to define it and to clarify its history: “After all, poets and storytellers throughout the ages have captured and described the cathartic experience of putting pen to paper. Great literature from such poets and storytellers makes it tempting to believe that powerful healing and personal growth are but a few moments of scribbling away.”
What it is not is diary writing. Therapeutic writing is more directed, and many times conducted with precision by a licensed counselor. Don’t confuse therapeutic writing with simply spilling your guts in your notebook on a daily basis.
And certainly, do not think writing a memoir will give you peace.
Writing a memoir will not fill a void, nor will it be somehow cathartic. Believing that is a losing battle. You will not “fix” yourself by writing that book. There is nothing wrong with writing about yourself; you must begin writing somewhere and who knows you better than you. But do not see it as medicine for the soul. Memoir, for it to work, must be about the shared human condition. It’s not really all about you. In fact, nothing in the entire world is all about you. The sooner we know this, the better writing we will do. The better stories we will tell.
Nearly every morning, I write a poem. Sometimes they’re decent enough, sometimes I surprise myself and find them quite good. Other times they are pretty bad. But the act of writing them is my personal meditation. I sometimes share the work, but in the end, the poems are for me. Writing those poems is like sitting in zazen. But I also know that simple verse will not save me. Instead, writing poetry each morning is part of a routine, a ritual that centers me. And that could be anything for anyone. Praying. Sitting in silence. Taking a walk. It’s the act of self-centering. Writing can do that to some extent. But writing is not the magic pill. None of this is. Finding peace and solace and coming to terms with our demons is far more complicated.
If you are planning to write a memoir or even a simple personal essay, hoping it will lead to more understanding of yourself or somehow help you gain clarity in a foggy world, I would suggest another path. Go ahead and write, but don’t expect a miracle.
Pen to paper is not the elixir for all our troubles.
