Rachel, thank you for sharing your thoughts! This really resonated with me. I was reading about a study done on the effects of a study done with trauma survivors where they wrote for 20 minutes straight, without self-censoring or editing, about something in the present that could be solved or managed. It had significant benefit in mood! I immediately thought of your book “write to heal”. Maybe its time for me to really buckle down and get outside my comfort zone working through it! 💜
Thank you Alyssa!! Yes writing without a filter can be really therapeutic--I love morning pages from Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" for this reason! And "Write to Heal" will be there when your'e ready :)
Your post arrived just in time as I was using my morning journaling to contemplate this very thing. I include personal experiences in my articles and even have a section for intimate personal reflection--it has helped heal and grow. It has also challenged me on how authentic I need to be. I was assuming I had to be completely revealing to be authentic. It's simply not the case. Thank you for writing about this.
Love your post here Rachel! You make some great point about the balance between authenticity and letting it all hang-out, so to speak. I often talk about turning our painful experiences into art, but only once we have healed from them and become less identified with the raw emotions we may have experienced. Then we can write more objectively about these experiences in a way that is helpful for others. Poetry or art can as you say be good ways to write in a way that's less literal, but that still hold the poignancy we might like to convey. It's a tricky balance as you suggest!
A beautiful post. I agree people share sometimes as they crave understanding and connection, but it always falls short, leaving us exposed and vulnerable. It’s too one sided. I love these tips thank you for sharing 💛
This definitely resonated. I've been trying to figure out what to share online, if I want to be on social media at all, and what privacy and authenticity mean to me. This has actually become a big theme in my life (https://thebreathingspace.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-to-share-my-life-on-the) and I'll be taking my subscribers deeper into this theme next month when we look at our relationship to social media.
The funny thing about authenticity and vulnerability is we often think the dark days, the struggle and pain is authentic. But sharing joy and success are just as vulnerable (and a lot scarier for me to share!). The distinction you make between sharing online and then being able to essentially 'peace out' vs in person is so true. The micro-expression of a loved one is enough to hurt me, whereas the comment from a stranger is much more easily dismissed. I definitely honour you for finding your boundaries and investing more in the offline relationships.
Yes—sharing joy is now harder for me than pain, which is comical to me. I think the pendulum swung a little too far, and I forgot all is welcome in the spectrum of human emotion.
Rachel, thank you for sharing your thoughts! This really resonated with me. I was reading about a study done on the effects of a study done with trauma survivors where they wrote for 20 minutes straight, without self-censoring or editing, about something in the present that could be solved or managed. It had significant benefit in mood! I immediately thought of your book “write to heal”. Maybe its time for me to really buckle down and get outside my comfort zone working through it! 💜
Thank you Alyssa!! Yes writing without a filter can be really therapeutic--I love morning pages from Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" for this reason! And "Write to Heal" will be there when your'e ready :)
Your post arrived just in time as I was using my morning journaling to contemplate this very thing. I include personal experiences in my articles and even have a section for intimate personal reflection--it has helped heal and grow. It has also challenged me on how authentic I need to be. I was assuming I had to be completely revealing to be authentic. It's simply not the case. Thank you for writing about this.
Yes, privacy is also authentic!
Hell yes!
It’s a challenging discernment because there is no “right” way—it’s completely up to us as the authors. Both of our written work, and our lives.
Love your post here Rachel! You make some great point about the balance between authenticity and letting it all hang-out, so to speak. I often talk about turning our painful experiences into art, but only once we have healed from them and become less identified with the raw emotions we may have experienced. Then we can write more objectively about these experiences in a way that is helpful for others. Poetry or art can as you say be good ways to write in a way that's less literal, but that still hold the poignancy we might like to convey. It's a tricky balance as you suggest!
Thank you for the thoughtful comment Claire! It’s a hard balance and something I believe we all are certainly still navigating.
A beautiful post. I agree people share sometimes as they crave understanding and connection, but it always falls short, leaving us exposed and vulnerable. It’s too one sided. I love these tips thank you for sharing 💛
I’m so glad they resonated <3
This definitely resonated. I've been trying to figure out what to share online, if I want to be on social media at all, and what privacy and authenticity mean to me. This has actually become a big theme in my life (https://thebreathingspace.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-to-share-my-life-on-the) and I'll be taking my subscribers deeper into this theme next month when we look at our relationship to social media.
The funny thing about authenticity and vulnerability is we often think the dark days, the struggle and pain is authentic. But sharing joy and success are just as vulnerable (and a lot scarier for me to share!). The distinction you make between sharing online and then being able to essentially 'peace out' vs in person is so true. The micro-expression of a loved one is enough to hurt me, whereas the comment from a stranger is much more easily dismissed. I definitely honour you for finding your boundaries and investing more in the offline relationships.
Yes—sharing joy is now harder for me than pain, which is comical to me. I think the pendulum swung a little too far, and I forgot all is welcome in the spectrum of human emotion.