For me, writing about my feelings has become my primary grief coping mechanism. That may sound strange coming from someone who spent 35 years as a consulting engineer. However, writing was a big part of that career (though most of it technical in nature) and it was something I excelled at.
I have always enjoyed writing (even back in high school and college English classes); and secretly, I always wanted to write something non-technical worthy of being published. I am a voracious reader of the mystery and thriller fiction genre. Perhaps, in my retirement, I aspired to write a novel. The only problem is that, until recently, I’ve never really had a single creative idea for a plot or characters that I felt I could develop. It’s kind of hard to write a novel without those elements!
In grief, however, I have found an unexpected creative outlet to express deeply personal thoughts and feelings about the pain and sadness of loss, as well as intimate reflections on life and love which encompass complex and widely varying human emotions. In grief, I have found both plot and characters; and most importantly, words that I didn’t know I had. And the words have flowed out of me like tears, and I feel better for having written them!
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