The exercise of writing down unfiltered thoughts enhances self-knowledge
For decades, physician and author Silke Heimes has been leading groups in therapeutic exercises to put thoughts and feelings down on paper. Heimes, a professor of journalism at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, points to abundant evidence that writing for five to 20 minutes a day can improve health, diminish stress, increase self-confidence and even kindle the imagination. A writing routine, she argues, is a form of mental hygiene that almost anyone can benefit from.
So how do you start? What happens if—as every writer fears—the page remains blank? And how do you get rid of an overcritical inner censor? Heimes, director of the Institute for Creative and Therapeutic Writing in Darmstadt, explains how to overcome inhibitions and open up your inner world...
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.
-Lin Yutang, writer and translator (10 Oct 1895-1976)
From everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living, nothing in my eyes is better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with a sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve for anything secret or bad.
-Ivo Andric, novelist, Nobel laureate (9 Oct 1892-1975)
When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: “Only stand out of my light.” Perhaps some day we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light.
-John W. Gardner, author and educator (8 Oct 1912-2002)
I'm down here drowning in your fat. You got me on my knees praying for everything you lack. I ain't afraid of you. I'm just a victim of your fears. You cower in your tower praying that I'll disappear,
I got another plan, one that requires me to stand. On the stage or in the street, don't need no microphone or beat. And when you hear this song, if you ain't dead then sing along. Bang and strum to these here drums til you get where you belong.
I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hands. I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand. We're living hand to mouth!
You wanna be somebody? See somebody? Try and free somebody?
I gotta list of demands written on the palm of my hands. I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand. We're living hand to mouth! Hand to mouth!
I wrote a song for you today while I was sitting in my room. I jumped up on my bed today and played it on a broom. I didn't think that it would be a song that you would hear, But when I played it in my head, I made you reappear.
I wrote a video for it and I acted out each part. Then I took your picture out and taped it to my heart. I've taped you to my heart dear girl, I've taped you to my Heart and if you pull away from me you'll tear my life apart.
I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hands. I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand. We're living hand to mouth!
You wanna be somebody? See somebody? Try and free somebody?
I gotta list of demands written on the palm of my hands. I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand. We're living hand to mouth! Hand to mouth!
Ecstacy, suffering, Echinacea, bufferin. We aim to remember what we choose to forget. God's just a baby and her diaper is wet.
Call the police! I'm strapped to the teeth and liable to disregard your every belief. Call on the law! I'm fixin' to draw a line between what is and seems and call up a brawl.
Call'em up now! 'Cause it's about to go pow! I'm standing on the threshold of the ups and the downs.
Call up a truce! 'Cause I'm about to bust loose. Protect ya neck,'cause, son, I'm breaking out of my noose.
I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hands. I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand. We're living hand to mouth!
You wanna be somebody? See somebody? Try and free somebody?
I gotta list of demands written on the palm of my hands. I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand. We're living hand to mouth! Hand to mouth!
