I've been enjoying an online
'Journaling for Creative Growth' course these past few weeks. I've journaled quite a bit over the years, and for a while kept Morning Pages (which I have picked up again). These exercises were along the same line as that, but more varied and focused, with the goal of gaining personal insights. Interesting stuff! This course is just a first step into serious writing for creative growth, but it's rekindled my interest in journaling with a purpose. And maybe even memoir writing (my daughter would be happy to hear that!)
One of the exercises we completed was
The Unsent Letter. Yes, I've written letters over the years to people I was angry with, and then promptly tore the letters up. Yes, that felt good and it helped to get thoughts on paper and mind uncluttered. So it wasn't all new to me.
For this particular exercise, we were encouraged to choose a person, an entity, an event, or even our younger selves - something that's been weighing heavy in our thoughts recently - and to write for 20 minutes without stopping, an 'emotional download' of sorts, uncensored. I had someone in mind and had no trouble spending 20 minutes writing. This really allowed me to clean up my poor ol' brain. Sometimes thoughts are much like a tangled mess of yarn! Then, when that was done, we were encouraged to write a letter back to ourselves from the one we had written to. Now THAT was interesting. How was I to know how this person would respond to my letter? But, I set my preconceived ideas aside (as much as I could) and began writing. Interestingly, I found it helpful. I was able to see a little more clearly from their point of view.
Have you ever written an unsent letter, uncensored?
Do you journal? Do you use writing prompts to help you grow creatively? Got any book recommendations?
A few of my faves:
