Writing through your grief as a coping mechanism
A month ago, I lost a dear friend. She was a ‘Rainy Day Person’ as Gordon Lightfoot so aptly put it in his song Rainy Day People:
Rainy day people always seem to know when it’s time to call
Rainy day people don’t talk, they just listen till they’ve heard it all
Rainy day lovers don’t lie when they tell you they’ve been down like you
Rainy day people don’t mind if you cry on a tear or two
Have you ever read a book or watched a short film and just felt like the writer was going through absolute terror in his/her life? The work of art just left you feeling heavy and unsatisfied.
That artist/writer was likely creating out of their pain. They were working through their grief on screen/canvas.
Creating art and writing stories are terrific therapy tools that one should utilize. It is always productive for the individual and creativity. However that doesn’t mean what you creat in your grief is or should be the end product.
Just because using your grief constructively to tap into what rainy day people feel, think and say is productive, it doesn’t mean that’s the polished product. Unless you are writing a tragedy, your character is shaped, moulded and ultimately comes through on the other side of grief. You need to be able to write this side of the journey as real as you wrote the pain.
So next time hard times strike, write through them, then keep writing and praying as you wait for The Light to come through on the other side. Then write that joy of triumph with more vigour than you wrote the pain. The end often puts the pain into perspective… write that perspective.
Live. Love. Write.
God bless!
Tamara Green