WRITING LESSONS
Writing is a Terrifying Adventure That Will Set You Free
It is freeing
Writing down what you think and feel is the most daunting, painful, and emotional task yet when it is done, it feels like a big achievement, a kind of freedom from all heaviness bogging you down.
Except for academic or technical writing, I feel writing is always like a self-exploratory quest. It is identifying what is hidden deeply within you, your sorrows, your happiness, and the moments of deep injustices inscribed on your heart. It acts as a brush to remove all the soil from the glass and gives you a beautiful view inside.
Often, we are so influenced by the outside world and its expectations that our inner world becomes blurry, unable to be identified and we start to live a life we are unaware enough that everything starts to feel meaningless.
This was me till the day I started writing, a confused and closed bud, who was unable to identify the potential blossoms and their beautiful scents; it was tied down by the people, and my limited mindset — when it didn’t receive its light or appropriate temperature, it eventually made me mentally malnourished and I did not grow as a beautiful flower.
Writing can be a beautiful release of internal stress when we build up the courage to tell our story
As Maya Angelou said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” The untold story is what has happened to you in your life, and you were unable to express it in the shape of your words or actions. The untold story is all of your opinions that others did not understand or hear, it is the experience of being felt as an option for someone, and it is undergoing painstaking efforts for someone who did not acknowledge you. It is all the stories that you kept in your heart and did not release it outside.
It is scary to put your thoughts on the page as anyone can read it and judge you based on it. When I was writing my journal by hand, one day my sister read it. Later she mentioned to me that I love a girl, and I should talk to my parents to ask for her hand from her parents. Upon inquiry, she said she read it in my journal. For this reason, I did not write ever again in my paper diary. Notwithstanding the encounter, I did not stop writing my thoughts into the virtual pages as I had to make sense of my feelings and words.
What we feel is oftentimes our longing for an unmet need.
My expression of love for that particular person was liking one of her qualities, which I liked and wanted to be associated with, so I wrote about the experience to make sense of it. This led me to discover one of my values; I value people when they choose to be kind towards others when they are not feeling well themselves. If I had not written about that experience, I would have misconstrued those feelings at the time as my romantic feelings, as my sister did.
Moreover, the burden of that untold story would have been in my heart and I would constantly ruminate over a potential love affair, but it ended my potential limerence and unburdened my heart of confusion.
It is a risky job because it breaks the illusions, and gives you clarity. It is surely not for weaker hearts, as heartbreak pains the most. It is a courageous act that lets you reflect on your past with a clear understanding. As Virginia Woolf reflects on this aspect well in this quote, “I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realizes an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.” It is beautiful because it breaks the illusions and gives you access to your authentic self.
Those who are in writing for other reasons, such as merely for finances need to understand that writing on your own is necessary for your growth. Your artificial intelligence which you dictate or let write for you won’t make you feel the way writing on your own does. For me, letting your AI assistant write for you is like watching workout videos and expecting a healthy body. Think again!
Writing is like an adventure in which you take the risk to explore your pains, sorrows, and past traumas. It is hard to hike, yet it will give beautiful sceneries to enjoy.
Write, and free yourself.
Thank you for reading. The blog was written after research and fact-checking, however, it is not professional advice and can be flawed.
