There may be times when you want to write something for a particular occasion like a holiday.   Let’s take Father’s Day, for example.  You pick up your pen or you open a new word document. You take a big breath in, then exhale. A bit calmer, you look at the pen or keyboard, then at the blank page or screen. And… nothing. Nothing comes to mind. At all.

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Just as a bit of panic begins to mount, you remember your journal. Maybe you’ll find something there. You begin to scan its pages, hoping to pull something together from recent happenings, thoughts, meanderings. And still. . .you come up empty.

 

That’s when you might want to try going back in time or mind. To sift through fragments of memories with the hopes of attaching something to them. Maybe you look through some old photos of yourself and your dad. Memories start to gurgle up from the murky depths. Yet you’re not sure how you can tie them all together to form a cohesive whole.

 

That was my challenge several years ago when I was assigned the task of writing a piece for a local newsletter for Father’s Day. My own dad had passed away when I was still a teen. And my husband was not yet a father himself. So, out of mounting desperation, I picked up an old photo album and the memories came rushing back. Yet they were too scattered in time and place to make a cohesive story.

 

I was then inspired to write this imaginary conversation between my father and me. And the words and memories began to flow, providing some much-needed healing in the process!

 

Try this same method for a topic you’d like to write about or explore further. Take note of whatever healing you might gain in the process. Let us know how it goes and what you discover or uncover along the way.