One of the hardest parts of writing about ourselves is sharing our inner thoughts and emotions. Sometimes we don’t even allow ourselves to mentally examine parts of our lives or relationships because there are realities that make us uncomfortable. In other cases, it may just be that we prefer to present the best part of ourselves.
If this rings true for you, try this exercise:
- Commit to destroying whatever you write in this practice exercise. This is important so that you don’t subconsciously hold back.
- Think of an emotional memory.
- Write about the memory and notice where you feel resistance.
- Explore the uncomfortable feelings and write about them.
- Read it to yourself.
- Put it aside for a day and then read it again. (Optional)
- Destroy it. Tear it up or delete it if you typed it.
Do this a few times with different stories. You should begin to feel less resistance as you learn to let go.
All the best,
Val B.
P.S. If you want to go deeper on this topic, Dale Darley offers an inexpensive course on Udemy called Writing to Heal. Using journaling to transform your life.*
The reviews are good and although I haven’t taken this course, I did enjoy her memoir writing course.
Let us know what you think!