Writing to sustain the heart

Written by: Joanna Young
February 1, 2008

Heart StringsHeartstrings:

1. The deepest feelings, the strongest affections

2. One of the nerves or tendons formerly believed to brace and sustain the heart

I love checking the dictionary before I start to write. It often provides just the inspiration that I was looking for.

And I love the idea of having something inside that will brace and sustain my heart (heaven knows it’s needed at times!) It might not be a nerve or a tendon, but our words and our writing can be used for the same effect. To brace and sustain our fragile, human hearts.

Most of this writing is deeply personal, and may never go beyond the pages of our journals. But it’s still writing. The search for the words, the act of putting pen to paper at those times when we need to:

Celebrate: there’s nothing like a burst of love to want to write, to create, to spill the most exuberant words on to the page. I’ve written many a love poem that’s never been shared (wisely so!) but I loved writing them, and enjoy looking back on them now

Grieve: writing it down can help us to process the grief, to name it, then let it go. These tear-stained writings are often kept private – but may be some of the most powerful things we ever write.

Express: we write to express and to communicate, not just our ideas but our emotions and feelings, to open up a window into a corner of our heart. We’re often scared to reveal something of ourselves in this way – but we nearly always feel better when we do

Connect: when we write ‘out loud’ our words will connect, will resonate with others. Writing provides a connection, a heart-string that ties us to others – that makes us stronger, and sustains the heart

Rant: some of those darkest moods, of anger, frustration, bitterness, regret – well they can turn into true, dark, bitter, searing prose. They’re words we keep to ourselves – but seeing them, writing them – well it reminds us of our power – in our words, in our selves.

Learn: the search for the right word or phrase, the hunt for the right expression, it’s not just writing but learning – about how we feel, about what hurts and what inspires, what connects and what feels broken. We learn as we write – and when we look back at what we’d once written.

Tell: this one can be scary too, but just think of how many notes, letters, odes, novels, poems have been written to try and tell another how we feel. And try as we might to craft the perfect prose - it’s the plainest, simplest words that always ring most true.

Remember: our words remain long after the passion is spent, the tears dried or the broken heart mended. They remind us of how things once were, how we once were, how those feelings shaped, moulded, changed us.

Our words remain as a constant, a lingering reminder, a string that remains – bracing and sustaining the heart.

Photo courtesy of sidereal on Flickr

Joanna Young - Coaching you to write with confidence | http://www.thecalmspace.com/about#joanna

Comments

7 Responses to “Writing to sustain the heart”

  1. chrisNo Gravatar on February 1st, 2008 11:33 am

    Oh Joanne
    As someone who loves to write, the thing I am finding most wonderful about your contributions to Calm Space is the way you are prompting me to look at my writing from new perspectives.
    Your total LOVE of the art and your desire to make it accessible to everyone sings at us this month!
    Thanks for such a sweet voice and for nurturing an appreciation of the opportunity to write and a gratitude for its gifts!

  2. Joanna YoungNo Gravatar on February 1st, 2008 11:13 pm

    Thank you Chris :-)

    But you know much as I love writing about writing… it’s really the writers that I love.

    I love what I see of the human, the personal, the imperfect, the magnificent when I hear their words, when I see what it has meant to them to put their words down on the page.

    And I didn’t quite realise that until I read your comment, and thought about my reply.

    It’s quite a big thought. And one I’m very grateful for. Thanks :-)

    Joanna

  3. Angela EsnoufNo Gravatar on February 3rd, 2008 3:42 pm

    I love to suround myself with beautiful things. And your writing, Joanna, is one of those things. Thanks for sharing your gift.

  4. karenNo Gravatar on February 4th, 2008 4:10 pm

    Joanna,
    this beautiful piece of writing made me remember back to when my first child was born. I was so overwhelmed and overcome by the whole experience, the only way I could deal with it was to write it out. Once I had poured it all onto the page, somehow I could better cope and move on to love this amazing child.

    Writing out the emotions surely does help us process and heal. Thanks so much for the reminder.

  5. Joanna YoungNo Gravatar on February 4th, 2008 7:14 pm

    Angela, thank you. I was thinking about the quote you shared with us - and am hoping that my writing can be both useful and beautiful! Something to aspire to anyway :-)

    Karen, thanks for sharing that experience. I can feel the power of the emotions in your words still.

    I’ve had similar experiences myself - during the best of times and the worst of times. Times when I’ve been driven to write, screeds and screeds even when my eyes have been blinded by tears. And it does, somehow, help us to process our emotions and recover some kind of balance, or calm maybe :-)

    Joanna

  6. MariaNo Gravatar on February 6th, 2008 12:19 pm

    Beautifully written and so inspiring. I can’t wait to sit and write.

  7. Joanna YoungNo Gravatar on February 6th, 2008 5:34 pm

    Maria, thanks for your feedback.

    “I can’t wait to sit and write” is just the reaction I want to evoke - perfect!

    Joanna

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