Look closely. A long shadow may be clouding your future. It’s the shadow cast by the pain and suffering in your past—the parent who wasn’t there, the boss who humiliated you, or maybe even an unexpected diagnosis with a rare condition like familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS).
When you receive an unexpected diagnosis, such as FCS, it is heart-stoppingly easy to be stuck in the darkness—emotional quicksand that exerts a strong downward pull on the psyche. Experiences like these have a way of keeping us stuck in our tracks, unable to move forward or find joy. It can take a radical reboot to get past yesterday.
There will never be a time when life is simple. There will always be time to practice accepting that. Every moment is a chance to let go and feel peaceful. And for many people, writing is the answer—writing as a cathartic process to express thoughts and emotions to usher the healing process.
For some, the writing process may be seen as little more than a functional requirement of day-to-day living—anything from the hastily scribbled weekly shopping list to the apologetic penning of a belated birthday card. For others, however, writing can prove to be nothing short of an emotional lifeline.
People have used writing as a medium for emotional expression throughout the centuries, and for many individuals, it appears to remain one of the most effective means of articulating unexpressed or unexplored feelings. Just like Lindsey Sutton who writes a letter to her rare condition, familial chylomicronemia syndrome. Want to read more about it? Click here.
Of course, not everyone has a natural flair or propensity for writing; there are many people for whom exposure to the writing process might feel like a daunting or potentially shame-inducing prospect. The aim of therapeutic writing is not one of showcasing an individual’s literary skills—far from it. Writing therapy is about giving silent but meaningful expression to that which has not been, or cannot be, spoken aloud.
If you live with familial chylomicronemia syndrome or another rare condition, the idea may be worth the try.
