I'm not sure about the causality of the whole paper journal thing. Has it been proven that the journals cause the depression? Or is it more likely that people who have tendancies towards depression also are the instrospective sorts of people who like to keep paper journals? I'd lean towards the latter. I started keeping a paper journal partly as a way to track my mood and help to give myself perspective. I tend towards a lot of black and white thinking, and a paper journal is good medicine to that, because I can go back and read previous entries and see that the world isn't as I imagined it. I stopped for a while, and I can't say that I was less depressed during that time.
Similarly, with poetry. I don't know much about poetry -- I've never had the knack for comprehending it fully or writing it. But I have frequently used my writing as a way of picking at my mind and trying to tease apart my feelings to get at the inner core. I think it's a form of poetry -- my characters struggles are often a metaphor for my own struggles. The first novel I ever wrote (which is horrible and I have long since eradicated every trace of it from the face of the earth!) was written while my parents were getting divorced, and featured an insane, absent mother, and an evil, young stepmother. (I was living with my father because my mother was being horrid and caustic to me, and my father had a girlfriend who, at the time, I would have nothing to do with.) The main character was detached and shying away from obligations that her parents, about whom she'd become disillusioned, were trying to place on her. At the time, I didn't see how closely this mirrored my situation, but looking back, I know what I was trying to say. And I think that the novel was very effective in helping me work through some of those feelings. After I finished it, I had an easier time opening up to my father's girlfriend, and I'm really glad that I did. I was never able to get close to my mother, but she was a lot more open and accepting and taught me a lot about womanhood.
Similarly, the novel I'm writing right now mirrors my unease at the idea of somehow stepping into the realm of adulthood. I'm 26, but even so, the idea of adult things like home ownership, parenthood, etc terrify me. Even when I keep the house spotless, I feel as though I'm "playing house". People assume I'm five or more years younger than I am.
Writing can be a wonderful way of confronting and toying with fears in a metaphoric, fantasy world where the demons are more likely to hurt your characters than you.
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Date: 2005-12-05 05:11 pm (UTC)Similarly, with poetry. I don't know much about poetry -- I've never had the knack for comprehending it fully or writing it. But I have frequently used my writing as a way of picking at my mind and trying to tease apart my feelings to get at the inner core. I think it's a form of poetry -- my characters struggles are often a metaphor for my own struggles. The first novel I ever wrote (which is horrible and I have long since eradicated every trace of it from the face of the earth!) was written while my parents were getting divorced, and featured an insane, absent mother, and an evil, young stepmother. (I was living with my father because my mother was being horrid and caustic to me, and my father had a girlfriend who, at the time, I would have nothing to do with.) The main character was detached and shying away from obligations that her parents, about whom she'd become disillusioned, were trying to place on her. At the time, I didn't see how closely this mirrored my situation, but looking back, I know what I was trying to say. And I think that the novel was very effective in helping me work through some of those feelings. After I finished it, I had an easier time opening up to my father's girlfriend, and I'm really glad that I did. I was never able to get close to my mother, but she was a lot more open and accepting and taught me a lot about womanhood.
Similarly, the novel I'm writing right now mirrors my unease at the idea of somehow stepping into the realm of adulthood. I'm 26, but even so, the idea of adult things like home ownership, parenthood, etc terrify me. Even when I keep the house spotless, I feel as though I'm "playing house". People assume I'm five or more years younger than I am.
Writing can be a wonderful way of confronting and toying with fears in a metaphoric, fantasy world where the demons are more likely to hurt your characters than you.