"One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple."
--Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums
When did I begin to write ? At the age of 5 or maybe 6, it began with the alphabets, progressing to words and sentences, like all children do. I do remember being taught essay writing, probably in Grade 4 but there were rules to it. They were drilled into us and we noted them down in our English Language notebooks. The first drafts of the essays came back bleeding, the red showing in every sentence and then they were re-written as 'Correction Work', which in the end turned out to be the teacher's creation.
After my initiation into Reiki, the journey of self healing began and the suggestion of journal-ing came up as a tool for letting go of old as well as ongoing baggage of pain and trauma. Now for the purpose of healing the writing has to be spontaneous as the idea is to put out our feelings to release the energy which is not doing us any good. This is when I realised that I had to first unlearn the 'writing methods'. I had to just pour out my heart and not agonize over the vocabulary, sentence formation, active or passive, first person or third person and so on. I had to tell myself that my writing was not going to be judged or marked so I must stop thinking and pondering over every word and phrase.
When I suggest journal-ing to the people who come for healing I find that writing everything down does not come easily to them. The fact that they may have to find the time to be alone with a paper and a pen to write, seems quite daunting to most.
One possible option I suggest is 'voice journal-ing'. This has become easy with the app 'voice recorder' in all our smart phones. All one has to do is just share every feeling as a monologue on the phone. Once you are done saying with whatever came to your mind, hear it once for the closure to happen. The emotions which had earlier made your heart so heavy will seem quite trivial to you in comparison. The final act is to delete the recording. The idea is to express your feelings with no fear of judgement. Sometimes we may need validation for what we feel but if you follow this process till the end you will know that you cannot stop yourself from feeling 'not so good' feelings too. So, there is no question of seeking validation for what you feel. This process allows the full and complete 'let go' to happen.
The results have been quite empowering for me and I hope it helps everyone too.
Do not allow the feelings to stay within and fester - instead, recognise , feel, express and release them.
--Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums
When did I begin to write ? At the age of 5 or maybe 6, it began with the alphabets, progressing to words and sentences, like all children do. I do remember being taught essay writing, probably in Grade 4 but there were rules to it. They were drilled into us and we noted them down in our English Language notebooks. The first drafts of the essays came back bleeding, the red showing in every sentence and then they were re-written as 'Correction Work', which in the end turned out to be the teacher's creation.
After my initiation into Reiki, the journey of self healing began and the suggestion of journal-ing came up as a tool for letting go of old as well as ongoing baggage of pain and trauma. Now for the purpose of healing the writing has to be spontaneous as the idea is to put out our feelings to release the energy which is not doing us any good. This is when I realised that I had to first unlearn the 'writing methods'. I had to just pour out my heart and not agonize over the vocabulary, sentence formation, active or passive, first person or third person and so on. I had to tell myself that my writing was not going to be judged or marked so I must stop thinking and pondering over every word and phrase.
When I suggest journal-ing to the people who come for healing I find that writing everything down does not come easily to them. The fact that they may have to find the time to be alone with a paper and a pen to write, seems quite daunting to most.
One possible option I suggest is 'voice journal-ing'. This has become easy with the app 'voice recorder' in all our smart phones. All one has to do is just share every feeling as a monologue on the phone. Once you are done saying with whatever came to your mind, hear it once for the closure to happen. The emotions which had earlier made your heart so heavy will seem quite trivial to you in comparison. The final act is to delete the recording. The idea is to express your feelings with no fear of judgement. Sometimes we may need validation for what we feel but if you follow this process till the end you will know that you cannot stop yourself from feeling 'not so good' feelings too. So, there is no question of seeking validation for what you feel. This process allows the full and complete 'let go' to happen.
The results have been quite empowering for me and I hope it helps everyone too.
Do not allow the feelings to stay within and fester - instead, recognise , feel, express and release them.
