Comments on: How Writing Saved Me from Myself

By: Louise

Louise — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:29:22 +0000

I really liked this post. I can relate to writing teaching humility. I have a ton of fabulous essays kicking around in my head until it comes time to put them down in words. Then I find what I really had was a ton of opening sentences and a lot of empty space after that Realizing that forces me to put the discipline into finishing (some of) the essays though, which is immensely satisfying. Thanks again! -Louise, aka @ThoughtsHappen

By: Istivan - ska

Istivan - ska — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:36:20 +0000

Hey, great article. Felt like you were recounting a part of my life in the ‘bumping into poles’ part. Later I had somehow developed an ability to read and walk subcounsciously sidestepping dogs, poles and people …. don’t ask me how. I’d still bump into the odd lampost every now and again ) But yeah, observing the world around one is very sage advice. At times, when I’m tired and but not sleepy I go to a bar, sip a drink and observe the people round me.

By: Hal

Hal — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:02:11 +0000

Wow…that part about picking racehorses blew my mind. I need to get a hold of that book.

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:40:19 +0000

Well said. I especially like your points about humility v. narcissism. I think there is an entire essay to be had there.

For me writing helps me appreciate life and its experiences better. It’s one thing to live them, but its another to look back and examine them: Why did I feel this way?, Why did that man beat me with his cane? etc.

Awesome comment Julie. You were a therapist and used writing, that validates everything said here. It also might explain why I’ve yet to require a therapist. Woohoo! 30 years therapist-free. Guess, I better keep writing!

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:11:14 +0000

Oh, Teresa, I loved this, as usual when it comes to your writing. There are so many ways to respond to this piece, but here are three things that come to mind immediately:

1. “You also have to learn to write something good—a glorious metaphor, a pitch-perfect sentence, a brilliantly-reasoned paragraph—and then throw it away.” YES! One writer (don’t remember who at the moment), once called this learning how to kill your darlings.

2. “There are symbols that just rise into certain moments, and you can learn to read their messages.” Absolutely. And you sit down to write about those symbols and those messages and it just all flows. That’s the most incredible high possible, I think.

3. “Have I made it sound like writing is some sort of guru-therapist-oracle-fairy godmother? Well…no lie…it kind of is.”

No, it really is.

When I was a therapist, I used writing a lot with my clients. Many of them had been shamed about their writing–told they couldn’t write or whatever, but they turned out these incredible, introspective pieces that became tangible records of their emotional progress in therapy. I still have some of their work, and when I review it every once in a while, I’m always astonished–again–by how powerful words are.