Before Journal Writing, “Suffering was the only thing that made me feel I was alive”.

When a wintry MS (Multiple Sclerosis) episode kidnapped my body’s right side, I wanted to teach myself how to write with my left hand. Right on time, the universe presented me with “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, a book about reconnecting with my creativity (yeah, right) which included Morning Pages--three daily stream of conscious handwritten pages of whatever. NO thinking, NO old English class rules. So I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. For weeks and weeks and weeks.

Then, strange things started happening. Interesting words, phrases and rhymes appeared. I began to write poetry for the first time. I started remembering pieces of my childhood. I began to FEEL I was alive. My writings gave me courage to investigate my early life (Pandora’s?) box of essays, report cards, letters, first diary, prize ribbons, clippings from my first real job as a weekly newspaper editor. What I couldn’t understand was why I had repressed such awesome events. Curious…I kept writing.

I modified my Morning Pages practice, making it more a dialogue and less a data dump. I asked my pages questions: "Where do these (no confidence, hypercritical, frustrating…) feelings come from?" "Who told me that?" "How did I ever think…?" With journal writing, I get answers not only in my notebook but in the shower, at the supermarket, in my sleep.

As my mood swings, I invent different types of writing methods, like Ten Minute Missives or Night Notes. No matter what routine I use, I write every day. Today, I’m using the Morning/Mooring/Moaning/Mourning Pages to bring my right hand back home.

Journal-Writing helps me make sense of my personal universe: accomplish my goals, solve problems, and cure my diseases. With journal writing, I transform my life--I explore my past, expand my present and envision my future.

And I (drum roll, please) “Haven’t got time for the pain”!