| Grief is not always sad and depressing, but can be | | | | of a relationshipo Loosing someone you love through |
| inspiring and encouraging. Everyone deals with grief | | | | death, disappearance or abandonmento Finding out |
| differently. Writing is an avenue through which healing | | | | that you or someone very close to you has been |
| begins. Something inside is unleashed, as a creative | | | | diagnosed with a terminal illnesso Surviving a natural |
| literary embryo develops and is born. This newborn | | | | disaster or an unexpected occurrenceo Loosing a job |
| combines tear jerking memories and a dash of | | | | after years of dedicated work |
| optimism to turn melancholy into joy and productivity. | | | | Journaling or simply picking up a notebook and pen, |
| After tragic events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, | | | | then candidly begin writing down your struggles, |
| Hiroshima, The Tsunami of 2004, The Space Shuttle | | | | memories, anger, joys, the pain of your loss, or any |
| Challenger Explosion of 1986 and The Vietnam War, | | | | epiphany, can evoke the healing process. Writing out |
| many novels and documentaries were born. Despite | | | | your emotionally charged grief, may not be shared |
| these single disasters, so many eclectic, emotionally | | | | respectfully by many, but there will be a considerable |
| charged voices were heard through the written word. | | | | amount of your reading audience who will applaud |
| Your "best seller" doesn't have to be a novel, but can | | | | your willingness to share something so personal that |
| be an essay, article, poem or a piece of writing so | | | | probably inspired them to do the same. |
| compelling, that others are sold by your sheer | | | | Although writing can possibly bring closure to a grief |
| poetics. Some of the positive attributes that | | | | stricken situation, this doesn't mean that you will |
| therapeutic writing invokes, but are not limited to, | | | | forget. The words won't let you. As the final chapter |
| includes: | | | | of a novel brings closure to the book, you certainly |
| 1. Creating documented history with frequent and | | | | won't forget the story. Once you close the book and |
| better journaling | | | | put it on the shelf with other classics, you move on |
| 2. Unleashing your creative juices by writing personal | | | | to the next book with a new set of chapters yet to |
| unedited emotions | | | | be lived. Where there is no closure, the wound |
| 3. Your story can help others get through their grief | | | | remains open. This metaphor compares to the |
| period. | | | | scenario of the last few pages of a novel being |
| 4. Writing will make you sit down and slow down | | | | ripped out, leaving you to wonder what the end |
| 5. Helping you realize the importance of spending | | | | would be. |
| quality time with those you love | | | | Read some classical literary compositions and notice |
| 6. Never take a person or situation for granted, | | | | how they were written with life experiencing |
| including you. | | | | emotion, good and bad, drawing you into the story. |
| 7. Bringing closure to a grief stricken circumstance | | | | Whether the author's sentiment was personal or one |
| Prior to my mother's death, the joy of personal, | | | | they lived through someone else, you travel with |
| developmental writing took a back seat to the | | | | them to a time and place where the journey |
| writing projects for my career. After my mother was | | | | meanders through an unpredictable path. |
| buried and everyone returned home, I dove back | | | | If you're writing fiction, changing real character names |
| into my job thinking that staying busy was the best | | | | to protect the innocent, relocating a venue or placing |
| remedy for me. How very wrong I was. As I began | | | | the time in another era, can still allow reality and |
| journaling about the pain of loosing my mother, the | | | | emotion to permeate through your pages. Who |
| quality and quantity of my writing increased. You | | | | knows where therapeutic writing can take you? So |
| have the ability to turn an apparently debilitating | | | | many wonderful and positive projects, as well as |
| situation around, after experiencing some form of | | | | healing, can bloom from just one grieving experience. |
| loss and grief, such as:o A divorce or major breakup | | | | |