The Therapeutic Benefits of Creative Writing

Why we write to heal.

Has there ever been a time when you wrote something out and it felt like a weight was lifted off your chest? Writing can be so much more than a creative outlet for people. It can help bring yourself clarity in situations in your life, it can help you with your emotional processing and help you make better connections. With a little practice the art of writing can help you heal both mentally and spiritually as you go through different challenges in life.

No Judgement

Sometimes we are too scared to share what we are really feeling inside because we believe we are going to be judged. Now whether this is true or not depends on the type of people we surround ourselves with. However, even if the people around you aren’t the type to judge you still may not feel comfortable sharing what is weighing on you. It is very crucial to your mental health that you don’t just let that weight lay on you though.

This is where writing can become a helpful tool you can use. Writing is an outlet where you can get your thoughts and emotions out into the world in a safe place. Your journal will never judge you. It lets you spill out your deepest darkest secrets and doesn’t share them with anyone. Your journal can be your best friends but if only you let it be.

Turning Pain into Story

We have all gone through something before. Even if we don’t like to admit it there has been something that has hurt us or caused us pain. These emotions can fill our minds and feel very chaotic. We may not always know what to do with those thoughts and emotions. Writing our story down or the things we are going through can help bring clarity to the chaos. It can help us see things in a new light and with structure.

Bringing structure to your story can help it seem more manageable and make more sense. Allowing your story to live somewhere other than your mind will help it become more real and not change on you as your thoughts evolve. This structure can give you something to look back on and see how your life has changes over time in ways you may not be able to see in the moment.

Unexpected Healing

We live in such a fast paced society that is constantly on the go. We move at such a high speed sometimes we forget to breath. We don’t think through our choices and ponder how those choices have lead us to where we are today. When we writing things down it forces us to slow down and really think about things.

We stop just making quick decisions and we can reflect on how these decisions affect our lives. Sometimes we may not even know the pain we are feeling until we begin to talk about it or write it down. It’s hard to heal from something that you don’t know is hurting you. If you have an undiagnosed disease it can be frustrating and slowly killing you. Until your doctors can figure out what the cause is there is no healing. The same is true with our emotions and mental health. We need to be open to discovering what we are feeling so we can begin to heal those wounds that are within us.

Community

The last step is being open to sharing your story with others. It’s so helpful to be able to write things down but we were made to be in community with other people. When you gain the courage to share what you have been through you may find others who are going through the same thing. Learning that you are not alone can be such a confidence boost and help you fight the battle of life. It’s going to be scary sharing your story but it will help you make new connections with people and start new powerful friendships.

If you need someone to share your story with this is a safe place. we would love to hear your story. You can either leave it in the comments on this post or send it to us at hello@rosesashumans.com. We will read and respond to every story we get and we would love to come alongside you to share your story with others.

Conclusion

Writing is free. You probably already have a phone or computer with a notes app. If you prefer pen and paper there are so many places you can find a piece of paper to write things down. There is no excuse not to try writing your story. You don’t have to be a professional writer to enjoy the benefits of creative writing. You don’t have to stick with a nonfiction approach either. You can create an imaginary character who faces the challenges you are and have them fight to overcome those things. I hope this post has been an encouragement to you and you will turn to writing when things get difficult.