To share or not to share, that is the question
why you sometimes write to publish, and other times to reflect
Hello beautiful soul,
I hope you are having a peaceful week. But I can understand when this message reaches you when you are overwhelmed with end of the year activitities and preperations for Christmas. In my Greek little cottage on an almost deserted island it is quiet, peaceful. No Christmas stress or end of year activities, just me, my love, the cats and the sun.
Today I want to share a little about my writing process in the last weeks. For me writing is a form of self expression, self reflection and an important way to share stories so we can understand ourselves and each other a little better.
As I sat down to write last week for my weekly post, I realised that I was writing a piece of self reflection instead of a blog. I was still moving through all kinds of emotions, so the piece was going all the way. When I realised this, I decided to let it rest for a bit and see if it was worth sharing in the end.
When I reviewed the piece I came the realisation that writing has always been a tool for me to get to know myself better. To understand myself and the world around me. And sometimes it’s worth sharing, other times it is just for myself. In the past I shared my stories without thinking about this. I just wanted to get the word out. Because I always thought there was something valuable in the story I was telling. But that meant I sent out pieces that I am not very proud of (which is part of the learning process to become a better writer, so let’s see the lesson in this). In this piece I will share with you all the magic writing can bring you in your life.
Writing is a tool to get to know yourself
In all the books and blogs I have written over the years I see that I always bring myself with it. In the past I shared all my ideas and growing pains. But the longer I write (and share), the more I see when I am ready to share a story and when it is only a form of self reflection. I don’t want to share all the pain, I want to share the life lessons. But I still write to understand things and recognise the pain.
As I was working on the piece you are reading now, I asked some help from other Substack writers in
’s Writers at work group. There started a discussion on when to publish or not and the value of personal stories.The value of personal stories
I truly believe in the value of personal stories. I love to read and write about things we as humans are working through. Especially when the stories are personal, empowering and inspiring. But I don’t think we continuously want to read about the drama we probably all know so well. We want to read about how we get through it all. So we can learn something from it.
Sharing your story
I guess we all have our ‘things’ in life to go through. Everyone has their own growing pain. I know it is not just me. That is why it is so important to keep sharing stories. But the question always is, where to share and with whom?
In days of despair I am lucky to have people to talk to and share my story on a small scale. Some of them are just listening, others are helping me find answers, others share their own stories as a way to show that I am not alone in this.
The most important thing is to realise that there are different ways to share your story. Sometimes it is good to share your voice with a larger public, through blogs, articles or books. And sometimes you just need your journal or a friend that just listens.
Can you write too much about yourself?
This weekend I was reading a novel about an African writer (The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr). In the book someone told him he had brought too much of himself in his writing. That the book was too much about him. And I think as writers we can’t do it differently. We bring ourself to the page. Even if we write about subjects that are seemingly far away from us. But the question always is, what is the story you want to share. Were is the fine line were writing is a form of reflection and where is it a piece you want to share.
To get to a point of a story we need to reflect on a subject first. That’s why you sometimes have to work through it to get to a point. And that is okay. Writing is a learning and growth process too. So cutting things short, in my opinion there are three important ways why writing is so valuable in life.
1. Writing to share your voice
When you have gotten through the growing pain and learned your lesson, it is time to share your story. Your readers are waiting for it. They love to see your life lessons, because they are going through the same things. That’s why they follow you.
Writing can be a place of connection, when you share the message within the lesson.
2. Writing as a tool to reflect and create
On the path to self growth writing is an amazing tool to help you get to know yourself better. Seeing the words on paper, makes you realise what you are telling yourself. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Writing helps you get to see who you are and what you want in life.
3. Writing to manifest your desires
This is actually a bonus one. In this piece I haven’t been talking about the power of writing to manifest your desires yet. But I will do this in a future piece.
Writing can be a great way to manifest your desires.
Writing down what you truly desire, can be a powerful tool to connect to your inner truth. For this you need to take a step back, breath, meditate and let your inner guidance help you to get to the essence of who you truly are. There are the answers to the steps you can take. That is were your true life begins.
You are worthy of a life that is fulfilling and rich with all the things you desire. You do not have to stay where you are right now.
I wish you a lovely end of the year period, with lots of love and laughter and good conversations with your loved ones. And if you want to experience the magic of intuitive writing, please join the online writing session on 29 December.
Until the next one!
Love, Irene
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