Facing, Forgiving and Freeing the Past: A WOW Blog Tour with Mari McCarthy
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Mari McCarthy
I am very pleased to be hosting Mari L. McCarthy in her WOW Blog Tour for her new book, Journaling Power: How to Create the Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live. Mari will share her thoughts on facing, forgiving and freeing the past in this guest post.
Welcome, Mari!
Facing, Forgiving and Freeing the Past
Are you “stuck” in the past, ruminating about and reprocessing all the things that your caregivers didn’t do for you as a child?
That was me for many years until I discovered the transformational power of writing therapy. It seemed like a chance discovery at the time, but it turned my life around.
I’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and had been desperately running from one specialist to another, hoping for a medical breakthrough which somehow never arrived. No matter how many new drugs I tried, my MS symptoms got worse until finally I had to sell my successful management consulting business.
I experimented with daily journaling as a physical therapy, hoping it would enable me to write with my left hand (I’d lost most of the function in the right side of my body).
But something incredible happened when I started writing. Not only did my MS symptoms improve, but I began to reconnect to my body and spiritual self. Memories began flooding in. I used my journal to start figuring out who I was. Here and Now.
I recalled an incident when the nuns at St. Bernard’s School yelled at me for being two minutes late to pick up my ill younger brother’s homework. I remembered how shy and afraid the incident had made me feel. I noticed that I was still carrying those feelings with me. Connecting with my feelings scared me to begin with. It was a shock to realize that the frightened child of my past was still living inside my body, and that the emotions I had repressed as a young girl still pained me.
But I found expressing my feelings on paper cathartic. I kept writing away––and eighteen years later I am still penning several pages a day and reaping the holistic health benefits. I have regained 70% of the function in my right side, I no longer take prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs. I’ve made peace with family members and friends before and after they’ve passed on.
Medical science is backing up what I have personally experienced. Evidence from 300 scientifically controlled studies carried out in the past 30 years shows conclusively that expressive writing helps many people to heal, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
James Pennebaker, the pioneer of this research, said: “Writing may make you sad for a brief time, but the long-term effects are far more positive. Across multiple studies, people who engage in expressive writing report feeling happier and less negative than they felt before writing”
Journaling has given me a sense of perspective on my past that has brought me inner peace. There is no doubt I was deprived of affection as a child, but I have allowed myself to feel this deprivation consciously and move on to the point of forgiveness. I have learned how to put my past where it belongs–behind me and I’m creating the happy, healthy life I’m now free to live.
Journaling Power Prompt:
Who Am I…Today?
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Thank you, Mari, for sharing your insights into the healing aspects of writing and journaling. Your story will give many who suffer from chronic illness hope for a happy, healthy life.
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About the Book:
Journaling Power teaches you how to put the ultimate self-healing tool right at your fingertips–journaling. Through Mari L. McCarthy’s moving personal story, you’ll discover how pen-to-paper journaling leads to self-growth and life-changing transformation. You’ll also learn that numerous medical studies prove journaling literally unleashes a healing agent that empowers your life in ways you’ve never imagined.
About the Author:
Mari L. McCarthy is The Journaling Power Guide and founder of CreateWriteNow.com. Her blog (http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog) provides journaling for personal transformation and healthy living ideas, information and inspiration for keeping a daily pen-to-page Journaling for the Health of It™ Practice. You can also download the FREE e-book, How to use Your Journal to Cure Writer’s Block Now (http://www.createwritenow.com/download-free-writers-block-tips). More life-changing e-books (http://www.createwritenow.com/journaling-ebooks) can be found in Mari’s Personal Transformation Journaling Library and in CreateWriteNow’s store (http://store.createwritenow.com/).
Book Trailer:
Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Journaling-Power-Create-Happy-Healthy/dp/1988071216//?tag=wowwomenonwri-20
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How about you? Has writing/journaling helped you to heal and find improved health?
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
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ANNOUNCEMENT:
In honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Kindle version of my memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse will be on sale for $.99 until 10/31 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo and Apple iTune Store.
Next Week:
Monday, 10/31/16:
“3 Creative Ways to Uncover Personal Stories for Your Memoir: A WOW Blog Tour with Nina Amir”
Nina is the author of Creative Visualizations for Writers: An Interactive Guide for Bringing Your Book Ideas–and Writing Career–to Life.
October 2016 Newsletter: Updates, Memoir Musings and Max Moments”:
“The Road LessTraveled”
If you are interested in receiving this monthly newsletter via email, please sign up on the right sidebar. I’d love to have you along!
