Write about it!

[Caressa2]

"We sit down with a notebook, ask for guidance, pick up our pen, and start writing."

Basic Text, p. 29

When we're confused or in pain, our sponsor sometimes tells us to "write about it." Though we may groan as we drag out the notebook, we know that it will help. By laying it all out on paper, we give ourselves the chance to sort through what's bothering us. We know we can get to the bottom of our confusion and find out what's really causing our pain when we put the pen to the paper.

Writing can be rewarding, espcially when working through the steps. Many members maintain a daily journal. Simply thinking about the steps, pondering their meaning, and analyzing their effect is not sufficient for most of us. There's something about the physical action of writing that helps to fix the principles of recovery in our minds and hearts.

The rewards we find through the simple action of writing are many. Clarity of thought, keys to locked places inside of us, and the voice of conscience are but a few. Writing helps us to be more honest with ourselves. What we hear in the stillness are the truths that we put down on paper.

Just for today: One of the ways I can search for truth in recovery is to write. I will about my recovery today.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In early recovery I filled many books. I worked with a therapist from the YWCA and she had me writing, journalling, answering questionaires, and writing just because it seemed sometimes.

Last year a friend suggested that I sit at a table with a blank piece of paper in front of me, two or more if troubled, and every time I had a thought, put the thought to paper. Didn't have to have rhymn or reason, didn't have to be a sentence, in fact it could be a doodle not necessarily a word. It helped me to piece the puzzle together, to get to the real root of the problem and see the whole picture. It was very healing.