Like most girls, I wrote a diary, and like most girls, I started each day with a “dear diary” before entrusting the book with my feelings and thoughts. I wrote for a few years, until I was a 12-13 years old. Then I quit. Not sure why, maybe it was when I had to lock the book in order to write about my innermost feelings? Maybe when the fear of being “caught” took over? I do not really know, and for a long time I read other people’s texts where biographies, stories about other people’s lives and events have always been the books I have preferred.

The power of a language

Both the need for, and the ability to express myself in speech and writing, I have carried with me in my life. It has enriched my life and created opportunities for me. A hug thanks goes to my parents who always kept full bookshelves, which meant that books always have been very present in my life. I started writing again three years ago when I became ill with stress fatigue and depression. I used writing as a process to understand myself and log why some days and weeks worked better than others. It was part of my process to heal and eventually feel better. I have been writing ever since , almost every day and I use the written word as a log of how I really feel, how balanced I am and as method to process my emotions.

Writing is a great tool

To write is a great tool, but to share my inner thoughts, feelings and my inner world with other’s is adding one extra dimension to life. I would like to share something from Bo Ahrenfelt, psychiatrist and author who really say it in a way that resonate with me (free translation).

“Sharing our inner processes with others makes us feel good, and helps us to develop and deal with difficult phases in life. What is most personal is paradoxically also most generalizable. And by sharing  and to be a part of others personal experiences, I become more whole as a human being”.

The healing power of writing and storytelling is in its simplicity enriching and make the difficulties in life easier to bear.