I wrote a lot while I was in treatment for my eating disorder. I mean A LOT. I continue to write about my recovery and life after discharge.
I have a series of journals from this experience. Eight of them to be exact. Journal #1 is the month leading up to my admission. Journals #2-#6 were written while I was at the treatment center, and #7 and #8 were written after discharge while working with my outpatient team.
Writing is an outlet for me. If I have to go through it, I’m probably going to write about it. Nobody likes to be in pain but that’s when I seem to be the most inspired. You would think it would be the opposite. As much as it sucks, a little drama seems to make my story more interesting. I’m proud of the things I write, I just wish my best work didn’t come from suffering.
Pain may be inspiring but is it unnecessarily prolonged when I decide to write about it?
I intend to make a project out of my journals – possibly another memoir. My journals are honest and raw and when I finally decide to show them to the world, I think people might find them interesting.
I just hope I don’t relapse in the process. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.
I’ve always written from real life but maybe after this, it’s time to try a little fiction.
I have found that even the people who love you don’t necessarily want to hear about your day-to-day struggles, and journaling helps to verbalize what you’re going through without bothering anyone else with it. I say, if journaling helps you, keep doing it! You may even want to look back later at how far you’ve come, and remember just exactly what you were feeling.
Pain shared is pain lessened. I used to write about the abuse I suffered at the hands of my father. Once he died, I no longer had the need to write. No one can ever know what you have gone through unless you share and only if you are comfortable with sharing it. I found that sometimes just writing it down helped, even if no one ever read it but me. Suffering in silence is never good for you. I hope you continue to heal and get better.
Writing from pain…
I follow a blog by Lincoln Andrews at OnlySky Media.https://onlysky.media/author/landrews/
He is documenting his grieving process following the suicide of his son last year. It is searing, heart rending, and also uplifting. It has brought my own losses into sharper focus. I admire the courage of you writers who can explore such personal experiences and illuminate these parts of the human condition.
is it unnecessarily prolonged when I decide to write about it
My experience is that writing can be a great way to process difficult feelings. When my best friend killed himself, a therapist I consulted suggested I write him a goodbye letter. Writing it was hard. Reading it out loud, to my wife, I was in bits. Reading it later, to his other two best friends, got easier each time. It gives you control.
Good luck with it.