Journal – A Place of Safe Deposit

[Note:  I have held back on this blog entry in order to obtain the permission of the person it concerns before publishing it.  Cornerhouse.]

     A member of our journaling group recently brought in a story to share. She explained that this was not an “ordinary” sort of entry, and that perhaps it did not belong in her journal, but that it might be better to keep it in a “special” journal, separate from the daily one.  In order to better understand, we asked her to read it, and I share this account on Cornerhouse with her permission. 

     About two years ago, this person was badly hurt in an automobile accident, resulting in a broken back, and her recovery has been slow and painful.  The day she brought her story to us, it was the two-year anniversary of the accident.  It is simply titled “The Blue Car.”  It is her memory of the accident, but told from the point of view of her concerned and loving little car.  It was a sensitive and moving account of an awful event in her life.  We all agreed that it was more than interesting, well written, and unusual, and that perhaps she might like to start a creative writing journal for this and other stories she might want to write.

     When the next week came around, she said that she had, indeed, started her creative writing journal.  In addition, she said that when she wrote the story, she had felt confused, emotional, and reluctant to revisit this experience in her life, but that using the Blue Car to talk about the event had helped her in ways she did not anticipate.

     First, it was a way of thinking about a deeply disturbing experience, and at the same time distancing herself from the pain. Second, it allowed her to record her memories of the event, while “putting it away” in a “safe place” where she could revisit it if she ever would want to.  And third, after two years, it was a way to re-interpret what had happened in a new context.  Now, she could set it aside, safe in her journal, and could take a more balanced and positive outlook.

     This is not unusual.  It often happens that journals can serve to bring new insights, perspectives, understanding, even wisdom, as we sort out our life experiences in the safety of our personal journals. 

     This was written in the first person (i.e., the car), but there are other styles which could also be used.  A scene in a play, for example, in which there are characters and dialogue, discussing an event.  There might be a comment section at the end, or suggestions to the self about what to do in similar situations encountered in the future.

     In effect, using journals as a tool, we can teach or heal ourselves from the strains and pressures of daily life. 

Some Words of Encouragement:

·        “[We] begin the way most diaries begin: all at once, with a rolling up of sleeves, an intake of breath – and a here goes.” [A Book of One’s Own by Thomas Mallon, p. xviii.]

·        “A breed apart from the diarists who write simply to collect the days or preserve impressions of foreign places are those who set out in their books to discover who they really are… Some of them are after the sight of God; others are out to realize their full ‘potential.’ Spiritual or otherwise; and some of them are carrying burdens of suffering they are unsure they can shoulder – they want to use their diaries to test, and to add to, their strength.” [Ibid., p. 75.]