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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by badhaircut on February 9, 2005, at 7:01:31
There's a discussion in today's London Guardian between a psychoanalyst and a poet about the links between writing and therapy. The author/poet Blake Morrison ("As If" and "Things My Mother Never Told Me") said writers often sneer at the idea of writing-as-therapy. But his personal experiences proved to him otherwise:
Just before reading a poem, a student in his poetry class said, "'By the way, I should tell you that I had the bath running and the razor on the side, and I was about to do myself in when I suddenly thought, no, I'll go and write a poem instead' – a remark that completely disarmed our literary-critical analysis of his poem, needless to say, but which also made me realize that using writing as self-expression can, sometimes, be literally life-saving."
The analyst is Susie Orbach – Princess Di's therapist and also an author ("Fat Is a Feminist Issue").
The discussion is free (for now) at: http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/scienceandnature/story/0,6000,1409042,00.html
Posted by Susan47 on February 9, 2005, at 11:34:26
In reply to on writing and therapy, posted by badhaircut on February 9, 2005, at 7:01:31
Yes, it's true I certainly have been using writing .. but what worries me is that I need to be so public about it. Do you know what that's about? Is that mentioned at all?
Posted by smokeymadison on February 9, 2005, at 16:19:49
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy » badhaircut, posted by Susan47 on February 9, 2005, at 11:34:26
i feel so alive when i can write, nothing else compares. and when i can't, i am in a dark mood. when everything just flows out, it is heaven in ink.
SM
Posted by smokeymadison on February 9, 2005, at 16:23:18
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy » badhaircut, posted by Susan47 on February 9, 2005, at 11:34:26
i don't see anything wrong with wanting everyone to read what you write. god knows, i post my poems the minute i have them done. however, i wish sometimes i could just write for myself, not thinking of the people who are going to read it. i mean, i do write for myself, but with an idea of the audience in mind. maybe that isn't so bad?
SM
Posted by Susan47 on February 9, 2005, at 21:09:08
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy » Susan47, posted by smokeymadison on February 9, 2005, at 16:23:18
Not so bad at all, that's kind of what I do except when I'm getting careless. I never write anything beforehand, it's just sitting here at the keys and blam it gets posted as soon as it comes out of my head. Which gets me into trouble but I can't even begin to describe how incredible the feelings are when that gets done. I'm like you, smokey, there's absolutely no high like writing. Always write for yourself. Always.
Posted by sunny10 on February 10, 2005, at 13:06:10
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy, posted by Susan47 on February 9, 2005, at 21:09:08
I met an author at a bar about three months ago. He was talking music with my SO, realized that although I enjoy music, I don't "know" music like they did, so he asked what my hobbies were. (Polite bar patron, hunh?!)
When I told him that I write, he asked me what I write and I said that I mainly just write for myself- never even attempted to publish anything I wrote (I lied, I was published in the school paper when I was in sixth grade but I don't think that's what he meant, so I didn't include it!!)
He told me I was lying to myself. He swears by the theory that all writing is meant to be read. If it wasn't meant to be shared, it would only be thought, not written down...
So I hope none of you ever feel bad for wanting/needing your writing to be made public. It was always supposed to be read...
Posted by Susan47 on February 10, 2005, at 13:34:08
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy, posted by sunny10 on February 10, 2005, at 13:06:10
If it wasn't meant to be shared, it was only thought, not written down. Sunny, that makes a lot of sense to me.
Posted by sunny10 on February 11, 2005, at 15:24:15
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy, posted by Susan47 on February 10, 2005, at 13:34:08
yeah- it's weird, I kinda had an epiphany when he said that...
So I hide myself in more than just a few ways... hmmmm...
Posted by Susan47 on February 11, 2005, at 15:59:37
In reply to Re: on writing and therapy, posted by sunny10 on February 11, 2005, at 15:24:15
There're better ways of being published than printing stuff off this board, lol, Sunny can you let your writing wish take flight?
This is the end of the thread.
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