The liberation of writing

Why go to a shrink when you’re able to write?

I have through my life found that writing down what bugs me, helps a lot more than talking to people about it. Paper is patient… it doesn’t ask stupid questions, it doesn’t interrupt your speech and it just accepts and respects what is there. And sometimes that is all we need. Sometimes we just need to pour out our thoughts and feelings, without getting a response from someone else. And then its great to write. Maybe someone reads it it some day somewhere – maybe its just for yourself…

I use my creative writing as outlet for feelings and experiences. Involving situations from my own life which I – perhaps – would have handled differently if I had had time to think, or revert a bad situation so it either has a positive end, or if troubling thoughts of “what COULD have happened” keeps bugging me, I’ll “let it happen” in my writing, and it gives liberation and relief, and the thoughts are gone…

I often wish I had punched the bullies of my childhood. Maybe the grown-ups would then have understood that something was wrong, instead of just closing their eyes. When I write, I let the victims of bullying attack their offenders, where I myself was too “nice”.. it gives some sort of emotional liberation, that my characters don’t put up with it, but stand up for themselves.

We all sometimes land in situations where we are caught off guard, and not always do we respond the best way. And if you are like I am, you’ll know how the situation afterwards will keep spinning in your head, despite the fact that its too late to do anything about it. Well, I have discovered that for me its a good solution to write a creative piece about the situation, but instead of responding like I did in real life, I respond the way i WISH I had responded. I really feel it helps. And I’m hoping that by reading this, others may take this tip up and use it as well.

Do you feel you have handled a situation badly and you can’t reverse it in real life – write a creative piece where you handle it the way you wish you had, and experience the feeling of “letting go” afterwards.

Thankyou for reading,
– Karina Brandt