(Originally published at Degrees of Maternity on January 10, 2023.)

Hey, why not? Okay, that’s a pretty vague response, so I’ll start over.

The motivation behind writing therapy?

Well, quite simply, it’s YOU — and me.

Let me explain.

When I look all around me (at the human condition) today, I’m constantly reminded of how delicate the human spirit is. It can be broken in more ways than I care to imagine. And yet, we remain as individuals roaming around with mental, physical, and spiritual anguish, trying our best to keep functioning (even when the signs say that we need to take a moment to self-care and address our brokenness).

Not everyone’s troubles look the same by any means. Looking from the outside in, you might even be tempted to measure the severity of a person’s troubles, based on your own preconceived scale — a scale completely different from the person next to you.

“Oh, that person’s problems aren’t as bad as mine or they’re not as life-altering as the next person’s.”

But, in the eyes of the person in question, that brokenness . . . broken-heartedness . . . broken-spiritedness is an unwanted companion that’s affecting all aspects of that person’s life as he or she knows it. It can be earth-shattering, sometimes.

So, I’ll never match up one person’s woes to another person’s. I’m not living in that individual’s shoes and only he or she knows the true story that’s unfortunately unfolding.

What I will say is that we’re human beings with deep thoughts about things and with feelings and emotions to match. And, we have to be able to address those parts of our being when they’ve been damaged . . . infringed upon . . . neglected . . . BROKEN.

No, I’m not a therapist. I have no clinical background for professionally helping others work through the problems they’re going through by encouraging self-expression of thoughts, feelings, and emotions for the purposes of healing through writing.

But, I am a human being that utilizes writing in therapeutic ways ALL THE TIME. I do it on a personal level through my own stuff that others will NEVER see and I do it when I share with you, here at Degrees of Maternity. I’ve been doing it all my life — using writing in its various therapeutic forms — whether it was writing in my diary, letter writing to myself or others, brainstorming, list-making, goal-setting, writing my story in a book, journaling, blogging. So, I know a thing or two about writing therapy and its healing properties.

My perspective on therapeutic writing is that it’s a form of communicating with self and others when that relationship with self and others has been hurt a bit and needs a little healing balm to help alleviate the pain that’s just oozing beneath the surface and looking to break free.

But, that’s just me.

I’m on a journey to open up the benefits of therapeutic writing to others, because it’s been such a blessing to me.

And, I guess I’m unapologetically selfish in the sense that, when I find something that works and can help improve the mind state of a human being (like myself) and how I view myself, others, and the world around me, then I want to share, quite naturally.

I’m not the “hoard it all to myself” type. I truly do believe that sharing is caring. And, I deliberately seek to share what I know in hopes that it can bring some blessings into others’ lives.

Yep, that’s the reason for the next journey I’m taking Degrees of Maternity on.

Well, with everything that’s going on in the world today, can you blame me?

I mean . . .

• pandemic mayhem and aftershocks
• civil unrest as close as your neighborhood and as far-reaching as worldwide
• uncertain economic times
• infrastructure breakdowns
• political soap operas and deception
• natural disaster destruction
• public safety issues everywhere you go
• cyberbullying and social media warfare

I could go on and on, but the purpose of this blog post is not to depress you, so I’ll stop describing the world as we know it.

My purpose is to encourage you to use a form of self-care healing (develop a self-expression habit) that can be used to help you work through that broken-heartedness (due to the hard things that life brings your way).

Writing’s involved, though. So, you can’t be afraid of it. Writing is the Process. And you probably know what I’m going to say next if you’ve been around me long enough. Here it goes . . .

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Yep, that’s the one. Embrace the process. We’re going on a journey over here. (Me and my journeys — I know.) But, it’s going to be a journey worth embarking upon. A journey to help us filter through some of the hard things we face and do it in a way that uses something as readily available to you as writing. I’m already packed and ready for some traveling companions once again.

So, join me next time when I’ll give you a little insight into what writing therapy is; and I’ll do it list-style.

Until then . . .