Writing For Inner Peace

This week I’m extolling the virtues of writing to find inner peace.  

I am often asked why did I write my book ‘Wearing Red – One Woman’s Journey to Sanity’ – didn’t it make me feel bad, worse, dragging up the childhood trauma?

My answer is a resounding No. It had the opposite effect – letting go of all that stuff from the past – emptying it onto the page - was a life affirming process, which allowed me to find a level of inner peace, I could only have imagined.

The writing provided me with the opportunity to honour where I’d come from, all the struggles I’d experienced and to affirm how strong and courageous I have been in coming through this turmoil to create a life of dignity, honesty and respect for myself. I am living testimony to the power of writing and the ability find inner peace as a result.

How I longed for peace from the traumas of the past, that came from another’s hand.

Recovery came slowly, to create foundations for an inner peace to grow.

And then it happened. I wrote my story, released my secrets. One day I awoke and found my peace, sitting at the edge of the bed. Waiting. Waiting for me to be at one with where I’d been, where I am in the present. where I’m heading.

With a calm heart. A clear vision. I put pen to paper. Determined to save the one life I could save.

Today I have a mantra. A purpose. Speak out. Release secrets. Be heard. My mission for peace, for myself and others. One step I take, One day at a time.

One ripple in the pond - to be the change I want to see in the world. It starts with me. Today.

Boughed but not broken, I walked into the storm of my life, arriving out the other side with scars that made me strong. I gave myself back to me. The woman I am today,

Wild. Wonderful. Strong. Powerful. Peace. Oh, precious peace at last.

What I’ve been describing is my experience of the power of writing for inner peace.

I strongly suggest you try it – just put pen to paper and let go. Forget the rules you learned at school – with this style of free flow writing there are no rules. Except write what comes from the heart. Banish the inner critic – there is no right or wrong way to do this. No criticism or judgement.

You have the right to write what you want, Any form – lists, sentences, poems, random words. Your choice. Write for yourself. 

Writing can bring peace and comfort for swirling minds, offering palliative support for turbulent emotions. It can throw light upon the darkness.

Living on the edge, outside looking in, writing helped me find my place when lost – a firm footing to regain equilibrium. Gave me insight on time passed in the flash of living.

Writing can prise open tight circles of whirling thoughts to keep our hearts safe for human interaction. Offers peace to soften untimely candour and trim thorns threatening to pierce membranes.

Writing helps to find the spot lost dreams go to rest and fix punctured tyres. Gives form to chaos, where the impossible becomes possible – to heal, solve, celebrate.

It can provide peace to cherish life as it is not as we would have it be.

No matter how muddled your head might be there is always hope. As Matt Haig says in “The Comfort Book”: “You don’t have to be happy to be hopeful.”  Hope is the acceptance of possibility. All we need is some determination, some paper and pen.

Writing is an empowering process that can bring a sense of greater control over our own lives. An inner peace.

Have a go and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and it’s a tool that’s free.

Author of ‘Wearing Red, One Woman’s Journey to Sanity’

Available from and www.browndogbooks.uk (paperback) and www.amazon.co.uk (e-book)