On Martin Luther King Day the New York Times published an article on ways writing might have a therapeutic effect for people engaged in the enterprise. A friend told me about experience with the effect and shared the article with me.
The concept is based on the idea that we all have a personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. But sometimes our inner voice doesn’t get it completely right. Some researchers believe that by writing and then editing our own stories, we can change our perceptions of ourselves and identify obstacles that stand in the way of better health.
(Paragraph from the post linked, above.)
More below the fleur de kos!
That made me think of a concept I read about many years ago, called ‘automatic writing,’ in which writing disconnected from consciousness might lead one to deeper truths one might never have encountered, or might never have encountered so quickly.
I have never done anything like that, but I must confess that I have found writing to be beneficial in the extreme. I have attributed it to the power of creativity to lead and transform.
It sounds like automatic sig lines (no relation to automatic writing! ::wink:: ) are going away in Daily Kos 5. The one I have always used is a quotation from the late Jonathan Larson, creator of the musical, RENT. In the lyrics of one of his fine songs, Larson said:
The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.
I found it so remarkable that I feel like I have spent the intervening years (we saw the ‘Benny Tour’ in 2001, best I can recall) researching and examining the thesis. For those of us inclined to view our writing as a creative expression, perhaps exercising that - being creative - is at the heart of some of the beneficial effects writing can provide.
All of us here on Daily Kos embrace writing to one degree or another. Do you find that writing helps you with important insights for and in your life? Does it help your world view evolve? Does it help you understand yourself? Your goals, and how to best achieve them?
And for a Daily Kos-specific question, do you feel there is a distinction between writing comments and writing diaries, if you write both? That interests me a great deal from a community perspective.
Thanks for reading tonight! Best to all the Kibitzers!
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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