Why do I write?
I started writing nearly twenty years ago in the first days of recovery. It was suggested by a therapist I was seeing at the time.
I purchased a small journal and started writing and have written most every day since that time.
I see writing as a form of therapy
I take my thoughts and feelings, as well as the words of others, and put them on pages of my journal. I have filled hundreds of volumes in all these years of writing. It is so very helpful to put all those thoughts out of my mind and onto paper. I highly recommend it to anyone just starting as recovery as a log of where they are and hopefully one day will be.
I write because it gives me a sense of security
I take a journal with me wherever I go and I feel somewhat out-of-sorts if I don’t have it. I’m able to stop at any place, at any time, and put pen to paper. It offers a sense of relief.
I write because it helps me to remember what I’ve been through in life
I always put the date, day of the week, time, and location to start each day’s entry. Subsequent entries for that day contain just the time and location. I can read back days, weeks, months, or years later to see where I was, what I was doing, and perhaps most important, my way of thinking at that particular point in time. Perhaps at some point others will read my writing (when it’s legible, that is) and be able to tell what my life was like.
These are just a few reasons that I write. I only wish I had started this helpful habit sooner in life.
David Lee 