I recently read a powerful article about a 17-year-old who shared her personal story of triumph over trauma through writing. Not only was she able to persevere through her pain, but she was also able to help others heal along the way. She ultimately published a fiction novel that was based on her experience. That is awesome and inspiring!
Writing is such a therapeutic power. It’s the one realm where you can go and be creative with your past hurts, faults and secret desires. And if you chose to do so, you can use your story or creative work to help others who may be struggling and are trying to find their way.
I began my writing journey years ago. I can remember writing about the Barbie dolls I had given my own names to, coming up with wild stories of overcoming evils of the world. Then, I experienced real-life evils in adulthood, driving me to the pen and paper to seek some type of solace.
Letting go
One of the things I learned early in my freelance writing story was how forgiveness played a big factor in being productive. I specifically chose for my journaling to have some type of purpose; not just for the sake of me writing something down. As I wrote, I wanted to make sure I was letting go of whatever offense or hurt had been done to me. I didn’t want to keep revisiting those occurrences over and over again. The journal entry was me putting those past events into a boat, then pushing that boat out into the sea, never to be seen or visited again. It was easier said than done, of course, but over time and practice, letting go became easier, clearing the way for more creativity in my writing – which became an ultimate joy.
Helping others by telling your story shouldn’t be from a place of bitterness.
Not to keep harping on forgiveness, but be careful to not let bitterness be a navigator of your creativity ( or anything, for that matter). A lot of beautiful pieces of writing and other forms of artwork are created out of pain, but that often evolves into a place of acceptance or letting go. I’ve found it difficult to move forward while trying to hold on to past hurts or disappointments. Writing difficult or challenging scenes in a short story or novel was dreadful for me at first, but over time, I looked forward to those challenges; because I was in a place of overcoming anything related to those scenes that were based on personal events.
A lot of letting go is needed in order to enjoy a new place of creativity and invention.
“I’m able to have relationships that I never thought I’d have I’d never thought I’d be able to hold someone’s hand,” Brittley said. “I never thought I’d be able to do that.”
17-year-old Brittley from Utah.
If your plan is to help others through the power of telling your story, true impact of your storytelling should come from a place of resiliency and inspiration; connection is usually more successful from that standpoint.
Making way for newness
There’s such a strong connection to writing about your pains and hurts. This is something that I will always cover in some way, shape or form because I’ve experienced it first-hand. The more I write about what someone did to me or how they disappointed me, the less those feelings and thoughts visit me. A somewhat aged study was conducted that demonstrated the difference between a group of arthritis and dementia patients; one group was asked to write about any stressful incident while the other group wrote about daily plans and activities. After four months of observation, it was found that at least half the group that wrote about what was stressing them showed significant improvement in their conditions. The other group only showed 25% improvement of symptoms.
Writing literally brings healing. I decided to share the above picture of the water from a nature event I attended recently. For some reason, the water has been such a place of solace for me. I reflect, dump, heal and move on. Maybe it’s because I know that water is constantly moving, carrying away whatever you want it to.