What Changes When You Begin Writing
Many people think the biggest benefit of writing a memoir is the finished product.
Often, it’s the process.
You are looking back at a specific time period from a new perspective—where you are now. Many times, a memoir is about a period of your life that resulted in some sort of change, a transformation.
It’s a time when you became a different person: You learned, you grew, you found a new way of looking at things.
That transition set you on a different path, the one that brought you to where you are and who you are now.
Time itself creates the distance you need to see things clearly, to review things that seemed one way in the heat of the moment, but in retrospect, were something very different.
You may have found out more about the person or the event that was a catalyst in your growth (for better or worse) and now have a better understanding of why things occurred, what motivated people, including you.
As you write, patterns emerge. Meaning clarifies. Old memories rearrange themselves into something coherent.
You may find compassion where there used to be regret.
You may find space to forgive—another person or yourself.
That alone can be worth the effort.
If you’re curious about what might shift for you, my memoir course creates space for both writing and reflection. Find out more at: Spill The Ink