When a parent dies, no matter how old you are, you are always a little child once more, left feeling abandoned and bereaved. When my father passed away, it took me five years to even begin to recover enough to put pen to paper. But when I did, something magical and transformative happened. As I continued to pour out my emotions into my poems, I began to heal. A spontaneous expression emerged, born from my grief. The intense emotions of loss that built up in me needed an outlet. I found that outlet in my creative writing.
I encourage all of you to convey your own pain and loss through the written word, whether it be through journaling, creative writing, poetry, family stories, fiction, or biography. The act of writing will reveal your own deepest feelings to you, and make them manifest in a tangible way that no other method can do as effectively. Making grief concrete and bringing it into physical reality is a powerful therapy that can restore your balance from your loss.
We get confused when someone we loved dies. Our world is turned upside down. Our beloved, the person who shared our life, is gone. Often our familiar, comfortable circumstances are gone as well. Many life changes enter—changes that we never wanted or asked for. It is understandable, then, that we often can’t deal with all the extreme turmoil and tears, so we try to hide them from ourselves, burying our grief, making it that much harder to bring those feelings to the surface and deal with them.
Writing is the “real” you. You can bear your soul onto the page and write how you really feel. It is your private feelings—feelings that no one else can judge. You are creating your own little world on paper to make yourself feel better. It definitely worked for me. It does indeed bring your sorrow and distress to light, and eventually helps dispel them. It may take some time, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon
What a helpful blog post. Thanks.