At the beginning of this week, I wrote about fear.
As I've progressed through the week, feeling much better about life, I've also been reading SARK's latest book, Glad No Matter What.
She writes about a process for clearing out fear and other nasty emotions that plague us. First you write a Mad page (or pages), beginning with putting words for the feelings you're having across the top of the page. Then write out what's making you feel that way, specifically. Next she advocates writing a Wise page, wherein you write to yourself supportive and pithy bits of wisdom that will make you feel better. And finally, you write Glad pages, which are like Mad pages, only happy. Across the top of the page write all the good feelings you have, then write out what is making you feel this way.
The thing is, its easy for people to get disdainful of such processes. Like the whole optimistic, glad thing. Even I can find myself rolling my eyes if things get too feel-goody.
But, actually, that's bull. I think its a conditioned response from society. If I were younger, and more passionate about rebellion, I'd say its a response from a society that wants you to fit into the great unhappy masses and not stand out. Because, honestly, doing things such as the above process can make you feel better. Way better. And who doesn't want to feel better these days? I know I do.
So this week my prompts are oriented around journal writing and they are designed to purge worry and fear, which, I have it on good authority, there's a lot of these days. The key thing with these prompts is to keep going and when you run out of stuff to write, go to the next prompt. You want to get all the way down to the bottom layer of the fear in order to deal with it. Here goes. Be brave:
–I'm worried about…
–I'm afraid of….
–The worst that can happen is….
–And then…
–But wait, there's more…
Okay, that's it, I promise. Phew, nasty stuff. Take a deep breath and a drink of water. Don't you feel better? Sort of wrung out and depleted, but also ready to fill that empty, purged space with good new stuff? Start with this:
–I'm happy because…
–I'm inspired to….
–What bring me joy is….
–I'm grateful for…
And there you have it. Let me know how it works.
Melissa Donovan
These are great prompts to use not just in the context of life in general, but with regards to writing. I’ve been listening to some author interviews and many authors talk about fears that writers deal with — fear of starting a project (the intimidating blank page), fear of submitting, fear of rejection and judgment… the list goes on and on. Since writing is a solo activity, many writers feel isolated or lonely, and I think these prompts could help writers work through the emotional issues that are unique to writing (and other solo arts). Thanks for posting these!
Charlotte Dixon
And thank you for reading! And for pointing out that these prompts are very applicable to writing as well.