Therapy Ink
Untangling through writing
When we learned of Jeff’s recurrence of testicular cancer, I was grateful for my writing practice. I had no idea how much I would depend on writing during this trial.
The Lord knew.
He placed the right people and opportunities in my path to prepare me for this moment.
I was working on my second memoir, Staring Down a Dream, however, I set it aside. I couldn’t work on it. I would sit down to attempt another sentence, yet all that came out on the page were questions and thoughts about this unwelcome unexpected challenge.
How will I tell our children? What will I say? Do I tell anyone? When? Do I get another job? I can’t believe this came back. What do I do?
My mind was racing and the page was my ally. I dumped everything out. Everything.
I didn’t judge or read the ink on the page. I just kept the pen moving. To my surprise, poetry began to form from these outpourings.
During my runs, I paid attention.
What could I see, hear, and smell? What did I think and feel? What could I do?
Movement uplifted me emotionally and physically, allowing me to return to the page and create poems from my time with nature. Writing became a refuge, a way to focus on something other than my loss, sadness, and fear.
I ran to write, and these two actions became invaluable sources of gratitude. The Lord was with me every step and every word.
Would you like to try writing during your challenge?
Download— The Therapeutic Ink: Untangling Through Writing Prompts
I wasn’t planning on writing a book about this season. Yet each time I came to the page I recognized the hope, courage, and love our story could offer someone else.
Would you join us?
How to help us share the message of hope, courage, and love:
Buy the book (It’s now globe on Amazon) or for a signed copy click here
Leave a review on Amazon (Your reviews help other people find the book and it bumps up the algorithm for visibility)
Do you know a local parenting or caregiver cancer support group that could benefit? Please reply to this email and let me know.
Thank you for your willingness to spread the word.
Take good care,
Julie, Jeff, Brindsley, Delaney
Thank you for sharing!
I am on my 29th journal. Sometimes I write every day. Sometimes there are months and sometimes years between the entries. Doing it my way works for me.
I love to go back and remember! They are very useful for that. I have a dresser in the attic, they are all in order there.
When my nephew committed suicide as a teenager, I waited about a year, and then I sorted through all my entries that included him and things we did together as he grew up. I copied them all into another book. A book of my relationship with Johno. And I gave it to his father, because that was a piece of Johno that Kevin didn't have.