The ripple effect of writing your truth

How my friend Sian found wisdom in the challenges of her mother's mental illness

Some writing prompts stick with you. 

Especially the ones that pull out unexpected depth and wisdom. 

This one was, “The hurt her mental illness did...”

My friend Sian needed some help writing from her soul about a sensitive topic: her Mom. And how she’s handled the challenges of her Mom’s bipolar schizoaffective disorder. 

Can you imagine? She’s seventeen and spent the last seven years watching her Mom slowly slip away from her into a dark, paranoid world. No one should have to deal with that at such a young age. 

Sian managed to create her own support system and excel in school. And through learning to talk about mental illness with family and friends, she has so much wisdom to share about empathy and abandonment. 

Except she had no idea how to express it. 

Those of us who had to grow up fast, know what that’s like. 

So last September when she started applying to colleges (as if she didn’t have enough on her plate) she tried to tell that story in 650 words or less. (Sidenote: the college app process is ruthless for kids) 

I wanted to help Sian uncover her voice so she sounded more like Sian, instead of one of her high school teachers. (Most kids do because that’s all they know.) 

So I turned to my trusted Soul Scribbling practice. 

We did regular rounds of freewriting using different prompts and reading out loud to each other. Sometimes whole paragraphs came out of our third round and Sian would have a new section of her essay to develop. 

Through the practice, she was able to see how much she’s grown in the past few years. And share the relevant parts of her story with honesty and depth. It helped her make meaning out of her life and share her perspective on the page. 

But here’s the real gift from all her hard work...

She was able to look at those tough life experiences from a place of healing. She did the work to dig deep and make her own meaning from them. And write her narrative, rather than being a victim of her circumstances.

That’s powerful.

AND…She got accepted to almost every college she applied to. With merit money from her #1 choice. 

Moral of this story?

When someone hears their own voice and digs deep to make meaning of their life circumstances - it has a ripple effect on the rest of their life.

It’s why I love holding Soul Scribbling circles. 

We all hold silent space to support each other in showing up on the page with the messy parts of us, instead of sweeping them under the carpet. (Like we do most days.)

Soon I’ll be running those circles again - and it’ll be a chance to bring your messy self to us each month. (Spoiler Alert: It’ll be part of the paid subscription for this newsletter.)

Until then, I’m encouraging you to freewrite on your own. As a way to dig deeper and uncover a story, you tell yourself about your life.

Try starting with a question like, what feels really difficult for me?

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write stream of consciousness without stopping until the timer goes off. It could be as simple as listing out traits that derail you.

Or you could go deeper about one thing you’re constantly struggling with.

And if you’re really brave, tell me you gave it a try in the comments below.

Believe me. You are not alone.