Have you ever tried writing therapy? Have you given voice to your emotions to help ease your trauma? I recently attended a grief and loss workshop and was tasked with writing therapy. I’d never done structured writing therapy before. Well, that’s not entirely accurate – I’d written my story in blogs after my losses; and as I look back, that was indeed writing therapy. Nonetheless, I was unusually nervous to begin something so structured and finite in a classroom setting.
Related: The Healing Power of Writing
We were given some odd prompts. One being the opening lines of the song called “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash. I’ll bet the song has already begun playing in your head. I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s going to be a bright, bright Sun-Shiny day. The song is so upbeat and positive. And at a grief workshop no less! As I sat there waiting to begin, I wondered….what in the world will I write about?
The timer started, and suddenly, I just began to write… The words bubbled up, and not with the bright shining lyrics of the song, but out of the abyss of my grief:
A Bright, Bright Sun-Shiny Day. I didn’t want the sun. I didn’t want the warmth. I didn’t want the spring. New life. Not new life within me. Not my son’s new life. Instead, death. And the death of such a young, new Bright, Bright Sun-Shiny life. It’s not right. It’s not fair. It’s not natural. This sun-warmth and spring-feels all wrong. It feels like it’s suffocating me. A baby-cold and still. No crying, no tears. Sun. Son. My son. My sun.
The instructor stopped us after a few minutes, but I could have gone on and on. Tears were forming in my eyes from the deep emotions that I was dipping into again. I considered shaping the words into a poem or short essay. However, as I read them again, there is something unfinished about them-much like the unfinished life of my son. And, to me, that is healing.
Related: Writing My Way Through Grief
What would you write about given a few minutes and the prompt “A Bright, Bright Sun-Shiny Day?” Try it. Take the time. You just never know what might bubble up and start to heal you.
Photo by: Negative Space/Pexels
Emily is a very proud mom to two babies in heaven and one adopted miracle on earth. She is endlessly curious about feelings, emotions, and the ways of the world-much to her husband’s chagrin. In her free time Emily enjoys traveling, baking, and spending time with those she loves.
‘A bright, bright sun shiny day ‘….. is what I feel I will never truly have again. The days go on, the sun shines, but it is so hard to feel that sunshine. I want to feel the sun in my heart. I want to hope again. I want to wake up with purpose. I want my daughter back.