Living With Metastasis: Writing Your Way Through Cancer

"When I am writing something emotional, I must write it the first time directly with hand on paper. Handwriting is more directly connected to the movement of the heart. Yet, when I tell stories, I go straight to the typewriter.”

 

I find this to be true for me as well (except that I use a computer for stories, instead of a typewriter!).

In the past, I think I rejected the process of journaling because I didn’t understand its purpose.  I realize now that writing is meditation and that it can be better than a session with a therapist. When something is bugging me, I can sit down with a pen and paper and work it all through.  I wish I had known that years ago, when I dismissed the value of keeping a journal because it felt too much like navel gazing.

Before my most recent CT scan, I was wracked with anxiety. There were moments when I actually felt wild with panic, like I had to fight to keep breathing.  On the Sunday afternoon, I sat down to write. This simple process acted like a balm. I wrote every day for the rest of that week and felt infinitely calmer.  Naming my fears helped me feel like I would deal with whatever came up.

I filled a whole notebook in September. Tomorrow, I will go and buy a new one.

You can read more of my writing at Not Just About Cancer.

These are three resources I recommend.  I would love to hear any suggestions that you might have.

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg.

Bird by Bird: Some instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott.