A young woman who recently finished her doctorate emphasizes how much it has helped her to write morning pages as described by the author/artist Julia Cameron. I work with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point learning in retirement organization, LIFE. In that work, I have seen what joy and clarity comes to a person who takes the time to construct a talk that explains a subject or activity of personal importance. The Wisconsin Public Television programs include "Wisconsin Life", hosted by Angela Fitzgerald. The program features activities, businesses and experiences available in parts of Wisconsin.
All of these things, morning pages and talks and video programs, offer a chance to describe and explain things that matter. All of these things relate to writing regularly about what matters personally. Most people focus on the public presentation aspect of giving a talk or a demonstration. Even writing, if it is presented in a publication or a web site, often seems more about offering words to others. It does matter if something is written and kept totally private as opposed to be presented in a more public or open forum. But an often overlooked and under-credited aspect of writing or talking is what it does to and for the writer or speaker.
Much as with a poem, creating written or spoken words requires the creator to find expression that satisfies, that does the job of expressing to others what the writer/speaker feels. So, in the long run, writing or speaking causes the creator to search the mind, the emotions and the memories and then to match words to the thoughts, feelings and memories. Once that is done, even a little bit, self-knowledge and self-respect improve. The world feels more liveable, more comfortable. That's why writing a blog or making statements on web pages or giving a talk or mounting a video on YouTube can be very fulfilling.
