Note: Like so many others, electricity and internet were interrupted by the winter storms. Apologies for the delayed post!

I have a friend who refers to dealing with tough emotions as “cleaning house.” You dust and scrub toilets and change the sheets on the bed and vacuum and voila! Fresh start. New lease on life. From her perspective, the same is true of finally dealing with things like grief or anger or disappointment.

I’m sure psychologists would have a more scientific description of the process. (Here’s one article on the issue https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindful-musings/201611/3-reasons-let-yourself-feel-your-emotions). For whatever reason, the house-cleaning image works for me.

Another writer friend was complaining about a conniving co-worker, and then someone suggested she turn the co-worker into a character in her novel (a mystery) and kill her off in the story.

Which brings me to Why We Write - Part Four. Sometimes, the best way to navigate through your feelings is to write about them. Journaling, fiction, poetry, essays - whatever allows you to acknowledge what you’re experiencing can be like a cleansing breath, a purifying wind blowing through your head and your heart.

I can tell you from personal experience that it’s not magic. You won’t necessarily feel “all better” as soon as you write something down. But you may have a new perspective, and you may be better able to find peace with what is, rather than what should have been or might have been.

Clean house, clean mind . . . it’s worth a try (and probably more fun than vacuuming).

Ready, Set, Write!

Images by The Creative Exchange;
social media image by Jonathan Francisca;
Thumbnail image by Hamed Mohtashami pouya