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Know Yourself Better by Writing What Pops into Your Head

 Know Yourself Better by Writing What Pops into Your Head

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...

Todays Thought

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)

Todays Thought

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)

Todays Thought

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)

Be Happy

The No. 1 key to a happier, longer life—'that younger people don't' know, according to the oldest and 'wisest' Americans

According to the older adults Pillemer interviewed, these are the most valuable things you can do with your time:

1. Say things now to people you care about — whether it's expressing gratitude, asking for forgiveness, or getting information.
2. Spend the maximum amount of time with your parents and children.
3. Savor daily pleasures instead of waiting for "big-ticket items" to make you happy.
4. Work in a job you love.
5. Choose your mate carefully; don't just rush in.

The list of things they believed weren't worth their time was just as revealing.

1. No one said that to be happy you should work as hard as you can to get money.
2. No one said it was important to be as wealthy as the people around you.
3. No one said you should choose your career based on its earning potential.
4. No one said they regretted not getting even with someone who slighted them.