Writing Coach Insights: Going Beyond
Did you ever notice that sometimes, old annoyances that you thought were buried like to pop up out of the ground and taunt you? Hear this: Do not entertain them. Ignore them, write about them, burn them, bury them…do not allow what is dead and gone to cajole its way back into your experience.
Among us human beings, there seems to be a temptation to go back to a previous state, a more contracted state, a state of less spiritual growth, as state of greater chaos, greater pain. Perhaps that fear of dogs or wide open spaces or public bathrooms that you thought you’d overcome pops up again and for some reason, you just can’t leave the house. Maybe you’ve been seduced into an old argument and you’re angry again at someone for something that happened 30 years ago. Maybe you’re not eating well again or not sleeping well or not exercising or not practicing the drums as much as you’d like.
Even though we might know better, we can be tempted by what is familiar. Even after we’ve figured out that this habit or that person or that strategy doesn’t work anymore, there can be something in us that wants to go back, simply because it’s what we know.
This is where writing can help. It can discharge that force of attraction to what no longer serves us. When you write it, it goes into the page and not into the world. It does not invite chaos into our lives, but instead makes a story out of it. It makes it into something useful. It turns, potentially, the self-sabotage impulse into something different. It transforms reactivity. It helps us go beyond conditioned responses.
And going beyond the familiar, transcending past conditioning, is the definition of growth, whether you’re talking about writing or about personal/spiritual development.
So, try to catch yourself before you go into your usual reactions—and if you’re having trouble with that, try writing about it. Cry over the page. It can take whatever you have to give, and it does not hit back. It does not return insults. It does not escalate drama. Only you do. The page is generous. It has all the time in the world, enough space for you and all of your belongings, and it is as strong as the forces that hold the planets together, maybe more.
Learn more about developing your writing skills and connecting with your inspiration with the help of a writing coach.
Photo by Andreas Weiland
