If writing tops your list of resolutions or regrets, you could be missing out on more than you know.

I was barely a teenager when I figured out that writing could help me sort out my emotions, which were on a rampage that would last longer than I would have liked. Much later, I would learn that writing could also help me identify thoughts and feelings I didn’t even know I had. I had been assigned a piece about how we are powerless to effect transformation in those around us. When I reread my essay, I had written “I am powerful to change others.”

Perhaps because of my work as a writing coach and author, my introspective writing has ebbed. Handmade blank journals sit on my bookshelf as display pieces rather than tools for self-discovery. And that’s too bad. The people I know who journal regularly seem to ride out their storms with more equanimity, and generally cruise through calmer waters than I. By putting pen to paper, they’ve found the “write balance” for themselves.

Writing for self-discovery, however, is not limited to private journals. These days, more and more people are finding a sense of fulfillment through penning their memoirs. Whether for public or family consumption, the process can be just as illuminating when it comes to self-discovery.

Tags: The Writing Life