This is my first blog and I have decided to treat it much the same as anything else I write. I have thought about my own remit and researched the subject a little – but I thought that in this case I should record how I think and feel withouttoo much outside influence. I sometimes apply this to my creative writing to.
Before I could write I told stories in my mind. I found reading and (reading) comprehension quite difficult until I was at least ten – but there were many sorts of stories being told around me. My early storytelling in my mind helped me explore and develop my imagination. Often it was based on what I had listened to but from a different Point of View; from a bird flying high or from the point of view of a message being carried.
For many years as an adult I did not write much but still I told stories in my head. About a project at work, a computer program, team work that achieved great stuff. I would sometimes suggest to others that they wrote a letter about something that was bugging them – sometimes I would do that too.
I remember one colleague who could write much more eloquently than me, but when it came to writing about getting support from a sponsor or boss she would come to me to build a plot that would convince the necessary people.
All the hours I spent asking “what if” in my mind and exploring stories that never happened stood me in good stead when I started writing in my mid-fifties. I can just hear one of my brothers saying “good therapy”.
I remember my father getting up every day in England or Arabia and practicing playing his violin. I have never been in the habit of getting up and writing “Morning Pages” but quite often I spend time before going to sleep on those mind stories. Like writing this blog late, as I’m doing now, I write them down.
I hope to study some more of the concept, expressing ideas and feelings helps people become more fulfilled. I think that the feelings of wellbeing are deeper if the person finds receptive listeners. At one level I have found that this is true for me through my writing and other activities. I also know for other people and for me at other times, writing is not therapeutic. So, I am interested in looking at this and understanding ways to encourage effective ways to write therapeutically. Also, to understand how to help safeguard against any long-lasting ill effects, of say reliving trauma, while enabling deep seated beliefs to be challenged.
I feel I have been helped by the act of writing and expressing my ideas and feelings. I would say more than passive acts like reading something which support my beliefs. I am interested in looking at this from two different angles – Creative Writing Therapy and Therapeutic Creative Writing. I hope to keep an open mind and discover the usefulness of both. I think in my first Volume Anthology of Therapeutic pieces there are examples of both.
Look out for my Anthology in Published section of my Website www.foresaw.org