The Benefits of Writing in Recovery
One of the great joys of my recovery has been having the opportunity to write; for me writing and recovery go hand in hand. In fact I like it so much that it is now my full-time occupation. I would often try my hand at putting things on paper during my years of addiction; even then I could see the therapeutic benefits of writing. These efforts were usually made when I was drunk and I would always bin them afterwards; these ramblings would be so badly written and full of self pity.
Writing has been so important for my recovery. I just find it so much easier to deal with what is inside my head when it is allowed to pour out onto a computer screen. I am often surprised by what is there; I have found out so many things about myself this way. I also find it so much easier to communicate with people through writing; it allows me the space to communicate my real thoughts. When I talk with people face to face I can frequently fail to get my message across; this is less of a problem when I write. Of course this does not prevent me from writing a lot of nonsense some times, but at least it is nonsense that I actually meant to say – if that makes sense.
My first book came about because of my attempts to clear my head. I knew that by writing things down that I’d see everything a lot more clearly. I was right. I decided to commit myself to a blog so that I’d write this story regularly. That was the first time I had ever really allowed anyone else to read my stuff – at least since leaving school anyway. People commented on my blog and were interested in hearing more about my story. This blog later became a book; this led eventually to Dead Drunk which was released by Maverick House a couple of months ago.
Eight months ago I gave up my job teaching English in Thailand to write full-time as a freelancer. It was a scary move but so far it has worked out well. Even though I now spend about ten hours a day writing for other people I still love to write a blog and do other personal writing. I know how it benefits my life. I sometimes feel that if I couldn’t get these words out they would drive me nuts.
I would recommend writing for anyone who is trying to escape addiction and deal with recovery; in fact I would recommend writing to everyone full stop. Even if people never show their writing to anyone else it can still bring enormous benefits. One of my things I like to do is visit a website called futureme.com and send emails to myself in the future. This is a nice way for me to see where I’m at now and where I want to be in years to come.
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Good stuff Paul