A Reflection on Writing
Processing and reflection
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ― Ernest Hemingway
I have been delving more deeply into writing in the last year or so. Building confidence and clarity and growing with others.
I have always written for me. To see myself reflected on the page. It's the one place I can see it all and recognise all parts of me.
The weary. The alive. The wounded. The healed.
I'm now in the scary place of attempting to bring my writing to an audience. For someone who has always written for reflection and vision, to write a project and niche down into who this work is actually for has been difficult. But it is fast changing the way I see how I write and how I have improved. Also where I could improve.
The writing coach I am working with is a joy to share time with. I have come to realise that I have likely been writing as alchemy.
alchemy: noun
the medieval forerunner of chemistry, concerned with the transmutation of matter, in particular with attempts to convert base metals into gold or find a universal elixir:
"occult sciences, such as alchemy and astrology"
a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.
As a child I would use poetry as a way to express feeling and emotion that at the time I didn't really understand. I never kept a diary as such, just a reflective representation of my thoughts and feelings.
On leaving school at 16 I wanted to return to complete A Level English, much to my Fathers annoyance. He advised to the contrary as I already had an apprenticeship in hairdressing to complete. I felt it unfair at the time but now I see this as a blessing.
I may have been restricted by the need to fulfil a certain criteria or assessment and have limited my processes. So thanks Dad!
I am also slowly and steadily working through a Soul Midwives course and again, the power of inner self reflection has brought up so much of my own story.
Many people in my life see this process of deep internal enquiry as digging up old wounds and going over old ground. To me this is the alchemy.
To see the past with fresh eyes and new awareness and recognising ones own mistakes and perhaps, what caused them, in my humble opinion is the way to change ourselves and so quietly and steadily the World around us.
It helps us transform and transmute our pain into a deep awareness.
This is why in my client work, I use journalling so much. It allows us to see who we are underneath the layers we show the World around us. It allows us to process and reflect on the difficult stuff we are currently going through and to look back on our journey and see how far we have come.
Do you have a journalling practice?
How do you reflect and process your difficult stuff?
Have you ever thought about your 'story' and how it has created you?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.