SO I STARTED WRITING…

Featured by believableshe83, posted in DISCOVERY

I have been gifted a journal three times in my life. Once as a girl, once as a wife, and once as a mother.

As a girl, it was a pale pink Precious Moments diary (complete with lock!) and it was from my mom. I was still a lonely only child when I got it. So I addressed it as a “friend” named Samantha. And I told that girl everything.

Long story short, diary locks do not really lock. And it only took one evening of parental shaming for me to never touch it again.

Fast forward to about 25 years later, and my husband gave me a journal for my birthday. We were beginning IVF treatments, and he thought it would be amusing to have a chronicle of our path to becoming parents.

Well, it became more than amusing. When IVF turned into a complicated pregnancy, and I ended up on hospitalized bed rest, it was my sanity. Not feeling up for many visitors, it was how I processed my fear of losing our baby, along with my grief from not having the pregnancy of my dreams.

But thank goodness, I eventually left that damn hospital. (And with a beautiful baby boy!) Needless to say, once our little guy arrived, and I stopped sleeping, that journal didn’t cross my mind once.

And finally, the third time I received a journal, it was from my sister during a pandemic. (Maybe you remember it?) And I remember thinking to myself, “How sweet… My baby sister thinks that I have time to journal while working from home, taking care of my out-of-daycare toddler, and watching the world as we know it crumble apart.”

What I didn’t immediately realize was the fact that I was once again isolated from the world, and the timing was actually perfect. My inner monologue was making me crazy and I needed an outlet.

So I started writing…

At this point, I think it’s safe to say out loud that writing is phase one of my “Discovery” project. And if writing keeps filling my days with the same purpose and ambition that I’ve been feeling over the past several weeks, maybe it’s also safe to say, I have discovered a piece of my identity.

35 thoughts on “SO I STARTED WRITING…”

  6. My goodness I love journals. The texture of pages and using a well inked pen to write with is no joooke.
    Now I want a journal (so far I completed 30 journals in my lifetime)

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      1. Thank you. Honestly, a lot was from being in the 6th grade up until two years after delivering my first daughter. Since then, I stuck with whatever platform I could write on.

        Now I want to crack open a spiral or composition book (gotta be college ruled or I’m not touching it lol)!

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    1. Right? It really does. I have never been in the position of being the parent of a child with a journal, but I would like to think that I wouldn’t read it unless I thought they were in trouble. But then what? It’s a slippery slope…

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  10. Writing for me is also a means of discovery and recovery. I write to connect with my true self and cure myself.

    One of the other reasons why I write is to be free. I published my first book during the lockdown in 2020, it was that same period that I was completely healed of depression. I turned my pains into poetic positive affirmations.

    I’m glad you’ve found your identity.
    Thank you for sharing this. 👍

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    1. Adeleke- Thank you for sharing🌺 I am so pleased to hear that you have overcome a period of depression. That is no easy feat my friend. And congratulations on your published work! I will certainly look into this 😊

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