My first baby died, and if it wasn’t for writing, I would not have coped. I wrote in my journal all the feelings I was having throughout the entire experience. I didn’t realize what I was doing, or the benefits it would have. I was confused, lost in the feelings, the turmoil, and the chaos his death caused in my life. But luckily, I wrote them down, and I included everything. I documented what people said, what I felt in my heart, and what was going on in my head. Then I hid the journals away.
Twenty-five years later, Aingeal Rose found my writing in the attic. She said, you’ve got to publish this, and I did. I published my most personal writing in a book named The Reincarnation of Columbus. I won’t spoil the book by revealing what the reincarnation of Columbus is about, but it is significant.
Writing about the loss of expectation I felt from this beautiful young life was healing. It was only years later when I realized the benefit the book had on others and the many ways it helped them. They were leaving reviews on Amazon and other places, saying how this writing helped them, how it got them through their own grief, and how it comforted them. Many said, Oh, how amazing, so timely, so synchronistic!
Writing in a journal is easy and joyful. Even if there’s confusion, if there’s chaos, if there’s a puzzling unknown, write it down. Somehow it unravels the chaos and in that way, brings clarity and joy. Who knows, you may have a book in you that benefits others as well as yourself.
Here’s another example. Two friends were in love but there was some distance between them. They emailed each other for years. Some emails were philosophical; each other’s belief systems intrigued them. They documented all the emails, agreeing to go public with their relationship and publish their writing as a book. It’s like a memoir of the developing love story between them. It’s also a beautiful down-stepping of spiritual information. They didn’t realize either what benefit it might be to others. This is one of many ways you can help yourself and others through journaling.
We are publishers and if you write something like this, you don’t have to go through the laborious exercise of submitting your manuscript to hundreds of publishers hoping you might get published. Come to us. If your writing is spiritual, if it has helped you, and if it will help others, we will publish it.
Blessings from Ahonu & Aingeal Rose.
P.S. If you’d like to read The Reincarnation of Columbus, you can get it on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/291rTAc