I spend a lot of time urging people I know to get their stories down…to enter them into a journal, or to confide in someone they trust…because I know that storytelling can be a healing practice. In the words of poet Sean Thomas Dougherty, this is important because, as he puts it, “Right now, there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words.”
The story you share will help you make sense of your own experience…and, trust me, someone else…somewhere…needs to hear what you have to say.
When people are struggling, it helps them to know that someone else has been through the same thing. It helps to know where you turned for support, for strength, for comfort. It helps to know how you managed to pull it off. They need to know how you survived. Hearing your story may be just what they need to begin healing, themselves.
It helps to believe that healing is possible.
The question is: do you? Or have you given up?
Let’s find out.
Last week I promised you a writing prompt to get you started.
Before you start, set aside some time when you won't be interrupted, say 15 minutes. That's all. The point is to write honestly and unapologetically about whatever comes to mind.
This is your prompt: Write for 15 minutes about...
WAITING
...as in waiting for, or waiting with, or waiting while, or waiting until. Whatever comes up for you.
The point is to write something. This is, in and of itself, an act of raw courage. A mark of sheer humility and generosity. A sometimes painful yet healing balm.
If you can, share your first unedited effort with someone you trust. Or, better yet, share it with all of us. You may never know that what you have written might be what someone else needs to hear to begin healing at this very moment.
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