Forget Therapy, Start Writing

Seek solace in the arms of writing

In recent years, nothing has benefited me more than writing.

It has changed me as a person, it gives me a sense of purpose. Putting hours on an article and pressing publish — Aaah nothing beats that feeling!

I consider myself an overthinker. It has its benefits.

I am not exactly cautious as most overthinkers are, but I spend an awful amount of time lost in my thoughts.

When I started writing, all I did was write what I was thinking about.

There was no filter, nothing. I just opened a page and let it all out.

This way I was calmer and more focused. It worked wonders. I managed to zero in on my niche and generate new ideas every day.

Writing tells me more about myself

Writing is a way to make sense of everything.

Yes, we can mostly understand what we are thinking but when we write it, it becomes tangible.

This ‘officiality’ tells you more about that thought than that thought alone could.

When you write, what was supposedly some dots, feel connected. A smoother picture is drawn.

Our manners of thinking feel cryptic most of the time. But when you open that canvas and start writing, everything submits itself to you.

It turns out you have all the answers within you.

You learn more about yourself. What you are actually thinking, why you are thinking that.

When you feel your mind is racing all the time, writing calms it down. That is because you are addressing your thoughts — not ignoring them.

Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written largely in his works

— Virginia Woolf

They say talking to someone tells you more about them. I mentioned that listening works better but scratch that— reading what a person writes expresses them better than anything.

I can accept my thoughts

Thoughts are like a baby.

You scold them, they start crying. Now you have another thing to deal with.

When you have thoughts you wouldn’t want to be having, the normal thing is ignoring them.

An example is wearing a brave/happy face when you are scared/having anxiety.

The right thing to do is acknowledge them.

Writing down your feelings makes them official. No matter how embarrassing they are.

You don’t feel guilty about them. You accept that they are a part of you.

This is important.

Telling a baby why not to do something is much better than telling him to simply not do it.

When you make a strong base of acceptance and build on a stronger foundation the building is stronger.

Our baseline is flawed.

While it is normal to be happy over achieving something you worked for, it is not normal to beat yourself over not achieving it.

It has become normal, but it shouldn’t be.

We have a baseline of negative, not zero. This way we have to achieve something to feel ok or to get to zero.

I discovered this about myself recently. It was shocking.

It feels normal nowadays to be negative over not achieving something when really the reaction should be neutral.

Use writing like therapy

Rather than a licensed professional therapist listening to you, it is now you who is listening to you.

The information exchange becomes much faster and more efficient.

I experienced the fact that every answer is within us. Anything we already don’t know about us has simply never been asked.

All you do is, write a question down on a piece of paper and then the answer tends to come to you.

If all the answers coming are negative, you have something to correct.

It gave me a sense of purpose and discipline

Having people read your articles and then give feedback on them is amazing. It is a unique feeling.

It gives me a feeling that I am not wasting my time. I am putting the message across for anyone who wills to take it.

My message is not perfect, it is personal. Thus it may make sense to some, to others it may seem stupid. No worries.

Discipline comes from self-made goals that you make via writing.

All of a sudden the write-what-you-think approach I was adopting was no longer enough. I wanted to do more. Be better overall.

That was when I started allocating time for it, starting making goals.

I now try and publish an article every day. I am going to try and get to 3 a day. It will be tough, but exciting.

It makes me want to improve

When I zeroed in on my niche, I looked at people unarguably better than me.

I read their articles every day. It makes me look at the intricacies, subtleties, and complexities that I am ignoring.

I started to see a massive improvement in my writing. I feel I am better every day.

This small change makes me want to read in general. Somehow it seems ‘cool’ now. It may sound stupid but that is how my perception has developed.

Self-improvement has now become a thing in everything. Improving myself every day, regardless of how small or minute the improvement may be.

It makes me take care of myself more

Before I started writing, my sleep schedule was off the charts bad. It made no sense.

Now if I don’t sleep well, I have lower energy and mental exhaustion. I can’t write well to my own satisfaction.

I have to take care of myself more and more.

If I don’t eat well, my energy level feels low. Again, it makes me lazy.

I have to eat well.

It pulls me in another dimension

In the real world, there might be problems, there might be issues. When I start writing everything is perfect.

When I put my headphones on and start typing, I am in another world.

One free of distractions and riddled with excitement. Nothing comes close.

What I am writing is as perfect as I can make it. I try and perform to the best of my abilities.

It is a fantasy that has now become a reality!

What you can take away from this

I used to say to people, chase your passion every day. I never did, I just spit it out of my mouth.

Nevertheless, when I started writing seriously I saw how much difference it made on me. ‘Chase your passion’ started to make sense.

I am nowhere close to where I want to be but for the first time in years, I feel like I am making progress. The feeling is uncanny and unique.

Just what I signed up for!

I have chosen to ignore the stress my goals may have on me. I would encourage anyone to do the same.

It makes the game you are playing much more exciting. It makes you more grateful and present at the moment all the time.

Stress comes as a result of looking too far ahead. I will try my best not to do that, I hope you will too.

Focus on making the most out of each day, being better each day, and improving each day. Surely then, one day all of us will get there!