Day 23. Writing heals.

When I began the challenge of writing everyday for 31 days in the month of October, I wondered what I would write about every, single, next, day. Surprisingly, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be.

One of the sayings I latched onto in the seminar I attended earlier this month, was: The hand will write what the mouth can't say. In other words, if you are struggling with anything, stress, family issues, relationships, God, life in general, or anything else, writing can help you pull the feelings and thoughts out of your mind, lay them on paper, outside of you, and leave you feeling peaceful and free, or at the least, like you've started to head that way. Sometimes it's hard to verbalize what we are feeling, so using your hand to write, is another way of "saying" how you feel, with less pressure. Often, you end up with "aha" moments that in the long run, will help you deal with the particular issue, and also give you clarity.

One of my college professors, assigned us to write three full pages every morning in a journal, of anything and everything that came into our heads. This was supposed to help us start the day with clean minds, get the mental clutter out. It was hard trying to get up that early, because three pages take a while to write with a pen and paper. I didn't get to it every day, but it was a very valuable exercise. It's like there's a unconscious connection between our hands and our brains, and if we can free the pathway between them, and the words can just flow, and things you didn't know were bothering you will show up right there. Sometimes, I was amazed at what came out in those pages. I've had journals for years and still keep one (although sometimes a lot of time passes between entries because of my life stage). It's been a wonderful thing to look back in my journals, as the years pass, and see how the struggles that I went through, lead to healing, to understanding, or sometimes simply acceptance. And it's wonderful to see the happy moments and feel the excitement of those good times again.

If you haven't tried it, you should pick up some paper, grab a plain notebook, or a fancy journal, whatever you like, and start writing. Start by trying to fill up just one page per day, and add more if you can. I'm pretty sure you'd be glad you did, because at least from my experience, writing heals.