Who knew that journaling might help? I didn’t at first! I’d never kept a diary or a journal of any kind. I discovered how cathartic journaling was for grief when my son Brad bought a leather refillable journal for me the Christmas after his brother died. It had been less than seven months and I was still a wreck. We all were.
That first holiday season was especially brutal. Even though I’d never journaled before, because Brad made the effort to go pick out a journal, buy it with his own money and gift it to me from a place of love and empathy, I decided to try it. Almost immediately, I was amazed how helpful journaling was in releasing my feelings. The more I wrote, the deeper my feelings were that poured out onto paper and I was able to start releasing them. It was very freeing to know that no one ever needed to read these except me. I could be completely honest about how I felt without having to constrain or filter my thoughts, depending on with whom I was speaking.
Brad DeLibero
Writing out how I felt allowed more to surface, with unconscious thoughts streaming forth into my awareness, so I could release them to heal. Wow! That felt good. I was sometimes surprised at what I wrote when I read it back! Feelings of both pain and joy surfaced and were allowed to breathe – almost like a good therapy session.
Experts agree that journaling is a useful tool in the healing process.
Thank you Brad!
Try journaling; what do you have to lose?
…A little grief?
Much love,
