Don't Let Sensitive Content Hold You Back
by Patti M Hall
Our personal histories have some sensitive experiences in them.
I know you might be saying,
“I’m afraid to tell the truth and hurt someone.”
This is a valid concern we all have. The truth often stands for itself though. Your memory of a situation is the story that belongs to you. What has been meaningful and memorable for you can be told in a way that is not spiteful or intentionally damaging. Concentrate on getting the details on paper for yourself and then the editing and sensitizing part comes later. No one will begrudge you telling your story if you make it clear how important it is for you.
Remember: no one has to see this is you don’t want them to.
In the spirit of the inspirational saying, “dance as if nobody’s watching/sing as if nobody’s listening”,
write as if nobody’s reading!
We feel a sense of completion when looking back on something as honestly as possible. We forgive our ambitious parents, when our writing shows us how truly successful we feel now with how their ‘suggestions’ turned out. We discover how proud we are to have accomplished a lifelong goal like a diploma when two decades later our pages tell in detail how really difficult it was to have two kids and go to night school. In getting done with something on paper, in getting it out of your head, a healing takes place out of the fresh perspective. Yes, there is always something that another person will have an opinion on or an emotional reaction to.
Write for you first and foremost.
Sometimes, the sensitive material in our life story is
EXACTLY the reason to write.
