Most of us know, as readers, that the words we read have tremendous power to heal. But can the words we write heal us too? I asked some writer friends if they’ve been healed by the act of writing. Here are some of their responses:
When my son was young, we were in a life-threatening accident in which our elevator landed abruptly in a basement and quickly filled with water. Surviving that event inspired me to begin writing, and At Heaven’s Edge: True Stories of Faith and Rescue was born. Writing provided me with a creative outlet to heal both spiritually and emotionally.
A famous person hired me to cowrite his next novel in a bestselling series. After writing the book with no contributions from him, he fired me and the editors, dispatched the publisher, and demanded his first payment back. I refused and won in subsequent negotiations. I was bewildered and embittered, but a godly friend advised me, “Don’t let this bitterness destroy you. Pick up the pen and do something to make a difference.” I soon accepted a new challenge, wrote the story of my heart, and it was soon my best reviewed book ever.
Last year, my husband and I made the difficult decision to leave our church of almost twenty years and I was grieving, angry, and anxious. So, when I was writing an article on not becoming bitter I was forced to face my own heart issues. The more I focused on what God expected me to do—forgive, overcome evil with good, seek restoration as far as it depends upon me—I knew God was rescuing me from myself and my hardened heart. It’s still a battle on some days, but God has brought healing to my heart and is freeing me from the sin of bitterness and resentment.
Writing about losing my sight completely as a thirty-year-old mom healed my fear as I encouraged my readers to see beyond limitations and focus on the endless possibilities.
When my two-week old grandson passed away, the grief unleashed a surge of emotions and words. I kept a pen and paper with me all the time, never knowing when the next flood of words would come. The words turned into poems and the poems helped me heal.
As someone who took eighteen months to recover from long-haul COVID with several months of being house- or chair-bound, I found that both the creative process and the consistent discipline of being a writer helped me heal. There is a lot of hope built into our craft.
Bitterness strongholds ate at me like a cancer, and I could not see that. Researching and writing God-Faced Forgiveness forced me to look at my “inner demons” in the form of bitterness and grudges held for decades, and ultimately to find deliverance.
I have found healing in projects I’ve written, both fiction and non-fiction, because I’m able to see, relate, and write words that help me in the healing process. There are times when pent-up emotion can’t be verbalized, but the pen can say it. During those times, I was able to clearly see a path on the page that I could not see looking ahead. Some of my best healing has come through the words I can’t say aloud but can write.
Writing my newest book, Uncomplicated: Simple Secrets for a Compelling Life, synthesized most life struggles I’ve had thinking something outside the life I was living was where I would finally feel accepted and at home. Through it, God showed me that the life he gave me was not a less-than-life, but one that had lessons and structures in it that others need in our day and age. It became a homecoming for me.
How about you? Has the act of writing ever healed you? Please tell the story in the comments.
