Unfortunately my Writing for Wellbeing course at the University of Cardiff had to be cancelled, due to tutor sickness. It was a disappointment to have the course stop in week 3, but I had already gained a great deal from the materials and teaching shared in those early weeks, and felt I could continue writing independently.
There has been a writing project for self development I’ve wanted to get back to for a while. The hardest part is starting, I find! I think the course gave me the confidence to just get the document open again and start writing. There’s no need to worry about finishing it - just adding a bit more and seeing where it takes me has been enough.
I do really love writing for myself. It gives me a sort of clarity and peace that I really benefit from. I know clients sometimes benefit too from writing between sessions or working out challenges on the page and I am always interested to hear about how people use this tool.
Sometimes we have barriers to writing because we think it has to read or feel a certain way, or it has to be for an audience or it has to end up in a particular format, but really none of these things has to be true. You can share or not, shred or keep, quit after ten lines or write a trilogy. Chucking out the rules, and “just” writing, is accomplishment enough. And if it feels good to write, allow yourself to write.
