Category: writing

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16 REASONS TO TAKE UP THE POWER OF THE PEN AND WRITE…

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Most of my readers also write blogs but I bet many have not really thought about the benefits of putting pen to paper and how much you can do with it. Well, here are 16 reasons you should take up the power of the pen and write more.

  1. Every night write down the errands you need to do for the following day. You will be surprised how satisfying it feels and clears your mind for a better night’s sleep. I always write ideas for my posts the following day.
  2. Writing helps you to sit with your thoughts and get to know yourself better. Pen and paper are very soothing and can take you to another place.
  3. It increases your self-understanding and empathy and allows great mental focus which gives us the time to enter a creative stage and improve our physical health.
  4. A landmark study found that those who wrote for 20 minutes a day for four days had a marked improvement in their mood and visited the GP less than those who were not writing regularly.
  5. It is one of the most easily accessible and adaptable things you can enjoy doing. You can write anywhere and everywhere.
  6. I stopped thinking I am not capable of being a writer as I have written thousands of blog posts over the years so I must be quite good at it.
  7. Writing is not just for one type of individual it is for everyone. It is a way of communicating, self-discovery, creativity, spirituality and self-expression.
  8. Do not think your writing has to be grammatically correct. I was useless at English at school and didn’t even pass it at ‘o’ level. Just enjoy the thought of putting down what is on your mind and you will find it transformative.
  9. Expressive Writing (writing about your innermost thoughts and emotions) has been used to help people process trauma, heartbreak, bereavement, illness and pain.
  10. Write down your struggles, it becomes more real and can help your family and friends to understand your situation. It can also validate something by making it real. It can encourage a shift in your thinking when it is all written down.
  11. When you write all your thoughts down you will realise how many pointless thoughts are taking up space in your brain and it will feel a release to get rid of them.
  12. Writing down the good things that have gone on throughout your day can also be very beneficial and can make you feel so much better.
  13. Buy yourself some beautiful notebooks to write in. They will encourage you to write and will look pretty left out in your room. I have them bought for me by friends and family every birthday.
  14. Write about whatever is going on in your mind and see where it takes you. It may surprise you as it triggers off other thoughts.
  15. Use the good old-fashioned notebook and pen as it encourages you to take your time about what you want to write about allowing you to focus on each word.
  16. Research has shown that 20 minutes a day, writing most days is ideal but even a couple of minutes a day can be worthwhile. Never feel you ‘have’ to write or it will take the enjoyment out of it. I am a list person and have a couple of lovely notebooks around the house which I look at every day and love crossing things off and adding more. It is part of my daily routine. The most important thing is to enjoy it.
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HOW TO WRITE TO HELP WITH PAIN AND MENTAL WELLBEING…

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If you are reading this blog then there is a good chance that you are a blogger or someone who likes writing. Not necessarily regularly or even an author but someone who likes to put pen to paper.

I have always loved writing and in fact in my late teens and my run to taking my GCSE’s I would write pages and pages on each subject in the hope it would stay in my memory better. Unfortunately, it did not work that way for me but friends have told me I would write the same subject out quite a few times. I was also away at Boarding School where Sunday’s were letter-writing days. I loved writing letters so much that I had a competition with a friend to see who could write the most pages. I wrote 49 pages and still have that letter today.

I love to sit in my little den/office/craft room that I have created for myself and look out of the window across the never ending fields and put pen to paper. I have never-written a fiction story but I have written one called A Little Book On Tea, Cake and Chocolate: TEA pairings, TEA and chocolate, TEA and its health benefits plus over 100 tips on BAKING cakes where I took most of the chapters and articles from my Afternoon Tea4Two Blog, I also wrote another which is well and truly ready for a revamp which is called Complementary & Alternative Therapies for Pain: Your guide to over 50 treatments for pain relief and again I took all the information from this blog.

I love making lists and I love nice books to write the lists in and can never have enough pretty books around the house available to write anything I think of in them. I think writing is underestimated as being something that gives you something back straight away. It helps you to sit and think about anything and everything. It takes you to another place for a while. It is a bit reflective in a strange kind of way.

I can only write in a room that is quiet. All I can hear at the moment is the clock ticking on the wall and the roaring winds outside. If you have never written before a great way to start is to buy a Mindfulness Daily Journal like this one from Amazon which is only £5.59 and has

  • 150 Pages-2 Pages Per Day-For Practicing 75 Days Daily Mindfulness
  • Morning Routine include with “Today’s Positive Affirmation”, Today’s Personal Goal”, “Today’s Intention”, “5 Things I am Grateful For” and “Mindfulness Exercise” sections.
  • Evening Routine Include With “This Went Well Today”, “5 Things I Am Proud Of”, “This Made Me Feel Happy”, “My Thoughts About Today” Sections

This book is so pretty to have around and it will inspire you to pick it up, you could use it to jot down what you want to achieve on any particular day. An awful lot of people think they have to be authors to write but this is simply not true. Writing for health has been known to increase self-understanding and empathy and gives us the excuse to enter into a creative state and improve our health.

If you think about how many times you text every day which is the same as writing except your typing it onto a phone. When your writing for yourself you do not need to worry about if the sentence is grammatically correct. My grammar is pretty awful really. Psychologists regularly recommend writing practices to their clients. Simply writing down your struggles can help as you can look at it clearly in black and white and might think of a way of doing something differently that might make life a lot easier for you. Even writing lists or diary entries or blog posts can be very therapeutic, it is just putting pen to paper.

My husband thinks I should write about my life in pain and how I have coped with it. I have started it but then I start something else and it goes on the back boiler again but even if its just something to be handed down the family line in years to come it might well interest a family member.

The Gateway to Mental Health Services write “Writing is a medicine for your mind. Whenever you feel mentally and emotionally exhausted, writing down the things that bother you will help you structure your thoughts and bring peace to your mind. Research shows not only how writing just for 20 minutes a day can help your mental health, but how well it teaches you to be in the moment and acknowledge your feeling“.

So, what are you waiting for? Have you started a journal, a book, a blog and felt the benefit of writing it? I would love to hear from you and write about your story on ‘writing for health’.

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INTERNATIONAL SEND A CARD TO A FRIEND DAY FEBRUARY 7th 2021…

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With millions of us not seeing our friends now due to Covid-19 this special ‘Send a Card to a Friend Day’ on February 7th is very apt. There is nothing like receiving a card with some lovely words in it from a friend or family member, but it does not have to just be for birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas, it can be any time of year.

‘Send a Card to a Friend Day’ is your chance to tell that special person what they mean to you and why. It is nothing like a phone call or an email this is something far more personal than that.

A handmade card would make it even more special. I had decided after Christmas that I was going to write to all my friends, and I have just finished making my cards when I came across this International Awareness Day. Do you get excited when you hear letters pop through your door and you find a hand written card or letter? We all love getting items in the mail. But why? Perhaps its the time it takes to sit down in our busy lives and write the card. Perhaps it’s the fact that the person was thinking about you when they selected the card. Perhaps it’s the quaintness of receiving something so physical in our age of rapid digital and instant gratification. Whatever the reason, join in on February 7th as we celebrate National Send a Card to a Friend Day!

Here are some of my ideas, I hope you like them. All hand made, some hand sewn and painted, some just painted and decorated but all to cheer someone up during this difficult time.