“As I Write, You Disappear”
Writing about our experiences is an effective way to purge and make sense of them, to form them into something new, a pearl out of dirt. As Kimberly Harding writes,
I do not think all creative acts need to be confessional, although one’s self and one’s life is always apparent to an extent within a creative act.
Many people, such as myself, create from somewhat of a confessional standpoint. I write and put myself and my life out there, so I can see what it means to me.
Something significant happens in taking our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences- all intangible and nebulous within our minds- and pinning them to the world in physical creation….
I feel the same about the healing power of creative art. You may wonder why you blog about what you do. You may wonder if it is relevant.
You may wonder, like me, when I discuss certain situations, if I am hurting others.
Don’t. Don’t worry about such things. In the creative act, your self and soul are allowed a place to grow, unhidden by the tricks of the mind and the false self. Creativity demands authenticity. Find your voice, relish it.
As the poem points out to below- the act of creation frees us. It frees us from bad experiences, false expectations, self-judgment, and condemnation, instead the act of transformation serves as catalysis to something new.
She then writes a beautiful little poem about breaking an abuser’s hold on her through writing about it. This poem is then quoted by Sofia Leo, who writes about her abusive husband, whom she has just left,
I do feel that he’s disappearing from my life, one word at a time. His hold over me has dissolved and I can breathe again.
It is true. With each post I’ve made, I’ve been getting farther and farther away from the destructive hold over me which my stalkers had for so long. Life is starting to move on again.
The old rusty machine [the blog], kept in the shed turned off for so long, has been cranked on and swatted a few times, and now is beginning to whir again. [I turned it off for a few days when my abusers first found my blog.]
It’s also been a great way to turn the abusive experiences of my past into pearls as well, pearls which can help others.