Write your heart out

I'm a writer, which means I transform thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations into letters on a page. The process of molding those things into words and sentences is a sanctuary action for me, and in these dark days we really need to seek out strategies which help us cope.

Here are a few ways things writing does:

• It forces me to encounter what I'm thinking or feeling, and provides shape to what it is.

• It gives me a sense of control within a wild and untamed universe. I have power over very few things, but capturing ideas is one of them.

• It eases the pressure in my mind and the tension in my chest.

• It gives me a way to brainstorm ideas.

• It helps me prioritize problems, goals, and to-dos.

• It creates a record of what happened in years past.

• It helps me breathe.

Delcan has journaled far longer than I have, and he's the one who thought we should create a volume for the Where True Love Is family a few years back. This little journal is the result:

It's got lined pages, in case you've got drifting penmanship like I do. And each page is topped with a message of affirmation or whimsy. If you'd like to get a copy you can click this link.

Regardless of what you use, composition book, spiral notebook, Moleskine, or Just Be You journal, consider turning away from the glowing screens and lay down some words or doodles by hand.

Write your heart out. Bleed your pain and hope onto a page so this damned world doesn't eat you alive.

And take very good care, friends. You make a difference.