The power of a brain dump

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Did you know that anyone can be a writer? It’s true. You know what you have to do to be a writer? You have to write.

Even if you don’t want to be a writer, simply writing heals all sorts of things. It brings some closure to others and sometimes it excavates things that you didn’t even know existed, things that need a little bit of loving from you. Things that have been sitting and need to be released.

One of the most powerful tools I’ve found is a writing brain dump. It started with Julia Cameron and the Artist’s Way. Her theory is that you get up every morning and write several pages in your journal to clear your head before you start your day. When I make time to do this a shift occurs. My head feels lighter and my day looks a bit more shiny and clear.

But I’ve found that there’s a place for this at other times and I’ve tweaked my practice. Well actually I’ve un-tweaked it. I’ve let go of the morning rule and have let myself loose on the page. I’m sitting up in the middle of the night and spilling all of the fears that cause my heart to race, the conversations I didn’t have that day that need to be written down and passed on, the hurts, carried for years that still seem to speak out loud, even now. It’s like a brain detox, a heart and soul cleanse. It’s a purifying an act for sure.

The other part that makes it magic is that I don’t write it on paper, I find that I’m so freed to write if I don’t have to worry about who’s going to read the depths of my heart or how correct my spelling is. I just need the release, need the words to be dumped all over the place, mixed up and scrambled and out of my brain, and out of my belly. (I’m using 750words.com as my writing space. You can make everything private AND password protect your account)

I’m slumbering a bit better having said all that I need to say. I’m finding my conversations with people in conflict a bit more tender and I have less of a sense of urgency in speaking the things that I’m afraid I’ll never get to say. I can say them all, scatter them all, stream them all, and I don’t have to filter for anyone. It’s bringing a freedom I can’t express and it’s healing wounds that have ragged bandages from all these years.

I’m also finding hidden treasures. Things I didn’t know my heart still wanted to say, dreams that I tucked away years ago, and even visions, that I don’t remember picking up, but that stir me all the same. There are reminders of things that want to be said to the people that have been a shining light along my path, and there are poems and songs that want to be sung. It’s like tapping into my subconscious and my future and my past and my now.

I feel a bit like a super hero when I’m done. And now I’m sharing my kryptonite with you.