It doesn’t matter whether you journal, blog or engage in some other form of private or public discourse; we all have our method for conveying our truths or putting ourselves out there. We all have our method for telling our stories and releasing the burdens that weigh deeply on our souls.
I began writing more frequently on Medium, shortly after I got laid-off from my previous workplace, last year.
Still laden with annoyance and disillusionment, I voiced my frustration by way of writing. I felt elated, free, acknowledged.
I never looked back. Here’s why you should do the same.
A Brief History
In the early 1980s, the discovery of writing as therapy — what is known as Expressive Writing — was brought about by Social Psychologist, James W. Pennebaker. Pennebaker was interested in uncovering the mystery behind physical symptoms — what brought them about and how to best mitigate them.
By accident, through the suggestion of an undergraduate student who worked with him, he included this question on the questionnaires he administered:
“Prior to the age of 17, did you experience a traumatic sexual…
