Written by Donesa Walker, M.Ed. BCCS, LearningRx Shreveport
Writing the Feelings Down:
Catharsis is the process of releasing and providing relief from strong or repressed emotions. IT is a wonderful process of healing that is necessary for the brain and body but often people skip this process and harbor the pent-up emotions and feelings in their bodies and minds so that it creates issues in the future. Many people never fully processed their feelings of major events from 911 to Covid shutdowns and others think that it was not a big deal to them because they were not there but the truth is that we all have feelings that need processing from big things to small things. When feelings are not processed, it ends up causing other issues that can affect learning and cognition as well as mental health and even physical health. Writing it all down is more than just a way to cathartically release feelings. It is also a primary way to process thoughts that allow for creative solutions to what seems like impossible situations. Human beings are social animals that rely on thought processes of interaction in order to fully process emotions. Emotions drive a lot of what we do and how we think.
Writing the memories down:
Memory is a funny thing in that how we perceive things at one-point changes as we learn. For example, when something first affects us, we have an immediate emotional reaction that may or may not translate positively. When that memory is added to or enhanced by future interactions, it may alter the initial memory changing the perspective. Many studies have been done on this and even investigative reports and fun shows like Brain Games because it is such a huge thing in our brains. It is always amazing when a group of people discuss an event that all attended and participated in but such different memories remain from positive to negative based on that perception which is why the old saying about walking a mile in another’s shoes is so true. Our emotions and experiences affect the way we record and hold onto certain memories. One person may feel positively while another sees it as less impactful or even more negatively. Writing down the memories helps us to store and restore the moments but also allows us to look back with perspective. When I was a young girl, my grandmother lived with us and she had memory issues which I remember vividly and associated with dementia but only recently when discussing it with my parents was I able to arrive at the full picture which completely changed my perspective. My grandmother never had dementia but had trauma and a small stroke from a dental procedure gone wrong! WOW! What a difference that piece of knowledge had on my perception of reality. Writing or journaling the memories of each day can be important for the future as the way we encode certain memories is all based on perspective. A fun game for this can be to take a cookie sheet and put 10 items on it, walk around the group and show the items the cover them with a towel. Ask each person to recall as many items as they can and one associated memory with that item. It is hilarious and insightful as to what we learn with this small game. Recording memories is not just about capturing the moment in photos but also in writing as those feelings and thoughts will change.
Writing the moments down:
Recording every moment in the baby book was great for the first child but gets progressively worse with the succession of children. The moments are not less valuable at all as if anything, they are more valuable. What gets lost is time. Time as an asset is suddenly in huge demand and there is not a priority to record it all down on paper so the moments often get lost. Each and every moment cannot be recorded on paper as this would demand more time than one has but it is important that the time is set aside to record the moments. When we were growing up, there was a family Bible that had a lot of important info recorded in the front of it. That info of writing down history has taken a back seat but it is an important part of our lives and for this, it is important to take the moments to write them down. I suggest a running journal. Just a simple composition book where you can stop at the end of the day or beginning of the day and record the moments. Moments that are simple, fun, and shared need to be recorded. Some people do this simply in a blessing jar each day or by writing it down in their notes on their phones. Whichever way you decide, write down the moments and cherish each one as they become memories.