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How My Passion for Writing Has Sustained Me
I simply love to write.
Posted December 5, 2021 Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
It is 3:30 AM and I’m in the hospital to treat a month-plus-long asthma flare for which a course of high-dose oral steroids has not worked. My pulmonologist finally told me I had to be admitted to the hospital to get several days of IV steroids to try to break the cycle. I have to admit I was miserable at home.
I was constantly short of breath, my chest felt tight, and I was coughing. Not to mention the side effects of the steroids including insomnia and increased hunger and weight gain—which is so compatible with a history of anorexia (note the sarcasm)—and I felt as though I was on an emotional roller coaster with anxiety, mood swings, and irritability, My mental health is too hard-won and I wasn’t going to lose it to asthma and prednisone.
I brought my computer with me because I knew the days would be long and boring. I knew I would miss my dog Shelby (she is in good hands at my brother’s house). And I knew in addition to writing, I might be able to get some work done on my startup. Maybe a little optimistic there.
My one consistent coping skill during this flare was writing. I love writing for my readers on this blog each week, coming up with material I think will resonate with you.
There is no understating how powerful a coping tool writing has been for me and how large a part putting words to paper has played in maintaining my emotional health. Whether writing a formal piece intended for publication or scribbling in a journal, the words just meant for me, the effect of releasing my emotions into the universe, feels incredibly freeing.
It’s no coincidence, I think, that I stopped self-harming, right around the time I started writing. Writing is a sustainable high, and seeing my name in print provides me with a different kind of joy. I know I worked hard for it and the sense of satisfaction is undeniable.
James Pennebaker, a social psychologist from the University of Texas in Austin who has studied extensively how writing about emotional upheavals in our lives can improve physical and mental health, states, “Expressive writing gives us the opportunity to stand back and reevaluate issues in our lives.” Writing gives us the luxury of time. We can write about an event the day after, a month, a year, or even decades later.
Pennebaker goes on to say, “One of the brain’s functions is to help us understand events in our lives. Writing helps construct a narrative to contextualize trauma and organize ideas. Until we do this, the brain replays the same non-constructive thought patterns over and over and we become stuck.”
Needless to say, I have no intention of stopping. Writing is firmly entrenched and has become a passion. I need to write. Writing keeps me sane.
