You may find yourself chuckling when you talk to a friend or family member expressing that you have a great deal on your mind, and they respond with: have you tried writing it all down? Truth is, you probably haven’t tried writing any of what’s bothering you down, and the reason being is mostly due to the fact that you find it close to impossible to convey everything that’s going through your head.
Sometimes, it can be a great challenge to attempt to get out everything you want: why you’re stressed about classes, how you’re feeling about starting your summer internship, why the hell every kid in class stared at you when you answered a political question.
Whatever it may be, chances are we have all had days when a million different thoughts begin circulating around our minds and we just can’t seem to quiet them. We don’t know how to cope with the sadness of losing our childhood dog or the frustration of performing poorly on an exam we studied countless hours for.
What can we do? Is there any effective solution to our problem?
Yes, there is, and the solution to my problem came a few days ago in crafting the very piece you are reading right now. Writing.
Not everyone has a therapist or is interested in talking about their feelings with even close friends or family, and that’s okay. However, just because you may not be comfortable having certain conversations, doesn’t mean those topics vanish from your mind and you don’t need to talk about them.
In moments when you just can’t seem to move past a thought, but you really don’t feel comfortable sharing how you’re feeling with someone else, write it down. Whether it’s a feeling of being overwhelmed, sad, happy, excited, you name it, write about it and you will feel that problem and that power it has had over your mind gradually begin to fade.
Part of what makes writing about your problems so effective is that all of those thoughts and feelings get to remain completely confidential unless you choose otherwise. You get to decide whether you want to keep that to yourself once you’ve written it out or whether you want to share it with someone else because you realize talking through it may be the most effective for you.
Regardless, writing out what’s on your mind won’t cause you to go through a mental breakdown moment of, “Oh sh*t I wish I hadn’t said that, now they might tell someone.” Rather, you have complete confidentiality between you, and, well… you!
I’m not sure if this happens to anyone else, but for me, when there is something on my mind I tend to make it into a bigger deal than it actually is. My thoughts begin to snowball and before I know it, I have worked myself into a frenzy thinking that I am going to die of cancer because I have had horrible head and body aches for the last three days.
Yet, when I write about these feelings, I start to realize that the way I’m thinking is actually completely irrational and that I have nothing to worry about. Seeing those thoughts written down on paper gives me a moment of clarity, and I’m sure the same is probably true for many of you.
Before you freak-out over the problems that seem to consume every part of your conscious state, take a step back. Grab your laptop or– even better– an empty journal and start writing. Don’t look at the clock, don’t check your phone, don’t focus on Netflix, just write.
Write until your hand cramps up and every thought in your mind is placed onto that page, and then read it over. Read what you’re thinking about and how you’re feeling and process everything from an outside perspective. You may be surprised by how you feel after.
Things are going to happen, problems are going to come, so my advice to you: when they do, be ready to greet them with a pen and a blank sheet of paper.
