December 8, 2023
I recently wrote an article for a national Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star, about my father's stay in a Dhaka hospital.
While I was asked to write about our experience during a very difficult time (at the hospital!), by the time I put "pen to paper" (electronically), it was a month later. I sat In a coffee shop, and just wrote for 2 hours. Simply put everything down in a document, but with the thought that It might get published. My Initial write up was over 2,700 words. Of course, that doesn't fit into an opinion piece n a newspaper. The week after writing It, I cut It down by half.
Both of these activities - the writing AND the editing - were cathartic.
This is how the Merriam Webster defines catharsis - a. purification or purgation of the emotions (such as pity and fear) primarily through art. b. a purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.
It pays to look at the dictionary sometimes! While I knew what catharsis meant, I don't recall that it's meant to be primarily through art (I often forget that writing is a form of art), nor that there's potentially a spiritual renewal component to catharsis.
Ok, I know how meta this is - I'm writing about writing. But writing is something I've enjoyed from a very young age - it has simply evolved over time. I've had multiple blogs. For a while, I used Instagram like a blog with long posts. As a kid, I used to write stories. Someday, I'll write that book.
After writing the newspaper article, I came across an Instagram post (12/4/2023) by Andrew Huberman of hubermanlab.com fame, and he said he was going to be following the Pennebaker writing protocol for the month of December. Of course, I think, why not try It?
I'm writing this post on the back of the first iteration of the Pennebaker Protocol. I chose a different challenging situation than the one in the Daily Star article, but I ended up writing nearly a thousand words about that situation In 15 mins. You just write. That's all. You write about the same situation for 15 mins at a time, 4 times over the period of 4 weeks (once per week). I don't really know what it does other than what Huberman mentions In his post - "A SCIENCE SUPPORTED JOURNALING PROTOCOL THAT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES MENTAL & PHYSICAL HEALTH". I Because I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my mental and physical health, it made me curious. I haven't listened to his full podcast episode, but linking it here In case you're Interested in learning more yourself. https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/a-science-supported-journaling-protocol-to-improve-mental-physical-health
I'll report back on what happens, although I don't know that I will know - or how I will know (I guess I should listen to that podcast...). I journal only sporadically. It seems to be more on days that are tough, but 2023 has been one of the toughest years ever, and I haven't journaled much. I want to write more (hence this new blog), and see where it takes me, but it's cool to learn that writing can help my mental and physical health in ways that I didn't even know. All good, though. Experimenting with writing - and life - can be fun, even when times are trying.