Journaling

Feeling emotional? Write it down
By Nathan Day Wilson
Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 9:11 AM US/eastern

I love the ability of writing to change lives. My life, your life, our lives as a community — writing has the capacity to change them all, and change them for the better.

One of the ways our individual lives can be changed through writing is by keeping a journal. Psychologists have found that writing about your feelings can help the brain overcome emotional upsets and leave you feeling happier.

In particular, brain scans on volunteers showed that putting feelings down on paper reduces activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is responsible for controlling the intensity of our emotions. They’re calling this the “Bridget Jones effect.” Kind of lame shorthand if you ask me, but nobody did. And my wife likes those movies, so don’t tell her I said that.

Here’s the skinny: Whether you elaborate on your feelings in a diary, pen lines of poetry or jot down song lyrics to express negative emotions, there appears to be positive healthy effects. UCLA psychologist Matthew Lieberman said the effect differs from catharsis, which usually involves coming to terms with an emotional problem by seeing it in a different light. Lieberman said, “Writing seems to help the brain regulate emotion unintentionally. Whether it’s writing things down in a diary, writing bad poetry or making up song lyrics that should never be played on the radio, it seems to help people emotionally.”

I think Lieberman was talking about me when he said that about bad song lyrics, but I’ll try not to be offended. Too much. I’ll deal with it in my journal.

The psychologists investigated the effect by inviting people to visit the lab for a brain scan before asking them to write for 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days. Half of the participants wrote about a recent emotional experience, while the other half wrote about a neutral experience. Those who wrote about an emotional experience showed more activity in the prefrontal cortex, which in turn decreased neural activity linked to strong emotional feelings.

Two parts of this study surprised me: Men benefited from writing about their feelings more than women, and writing by hand had a bigger effect than typing.

A quote from Lieberman made sense: “The reason (that men tend to show greater benefits) might be that women more freely put their feelings into words, so this is less of a novel experience for them.” Living in a house of all women, I can witness to the brother’s comments about women freely verbalizing their feelings!

Anyhow, the point of this column, if there is one, is that writing about your emotions can help. It can help you recover from emotional distress, process situations, release tension and more.

So get out those pens and write!

Wilson is pastor of First Christian Church, 118 W. Washington St. His book, “Waging Peace Amidst Raging War: The Impact of Religious Peacemaking Institutions” is to be published in the fall. His e-mail is nathan@fccshelby.org.

Words That Create Community

This is from Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey and is titled "Words That Create Community."

The word is always a word for others. Words need to be heard. When we give words to what we are living, these words need to be received and responded to. A speaker needs a listener. A writer needs a reader.

When the flesh - the lived human experience - becomes word, community can develop. When we say, "Let me tell you what we saw. Come and listen to what we did. Sit down and let me explain to you what happened to us. Wait until you hear whom we met," we call people together and make our lives into lives for others. The word brings us together and calls us into community. When the flesh becomes word, our bodies become part of a body of people.

Musicals as communication

I don’t know enough, but since you don’t know that I don’t, I’ll act like I do.

I’ve listened to musicals throughout my life, but feeling their power and assessing their quality are new to me. While affinity is finally decided by the temperamental viewer, there are some standards.

Quality musicals begin with powerful voices. If the voices are weak, it’s likely the musical is weak. Consistently misuse a voice and it may develop nodules, which can ruin a voice and a musical.

Quality musicals tell interesting stories without taking too long. Take too long and the audience may fall asleep. The more interesting the story, the longer can be the musical – if necessary.

Quality musicals are packed with striking costumes and stunning sets. The details of both energize the audience, enhance the production and enliven the story.

Quality musicals finish strong, unlike this essay.

Good writing

This week I’m at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research to participate in a writer’s conference. It’s my first time to the Institute, though I have long been a fan of its publications and other work.

I awoke this morning at 6:00 and walked down a road and across a bridge to the other side of Lake Stumpf. The problem was that my phone, which of course serves as my clock since that makes sense, did not automatically reset to local time, as I expected. I discovered this upon entering the fitness center, which I was pleased to find open, and a few ROTC members said the center was open only for the ROTC until 6:30. It was 5:40.

I like the architecture and layout that I saw on Saint John’s University campus. The Sexton Commons in particular, which I was also pleased to find open (no shops or stores within the building were yet ready for the day’s business, but the building itself was open with a few food service employees milling about), is a very attractive space.

Here’s a quote from Michael Dennis Browne, a librettist, from a publication of the Collegeville Institute: “A good piece of writing is an opportunity for the reader to imagine. You, the reader, are given the ingredients, the makings; the cooking is up to you. It does require a certain temperature if the water is to boil.”

This week I hope to learn more about providing ingredients.