Letters to Heal

I can not tell you how many letters I have written over the years. What I do know
is how healing letter writing can be. I took up letter writing way
before I became conscious as to how beneficial they are to one's
recovery process. In the year I started this journal, I wrote numerous
letters after being told to simply write the letter with no intention of
mailing it. That gave me the freedom to write whatever I felt without
concern. I yelled, cursed, screamed, and reamed... I cried...and
cried...and cried. Nonetheless, I let out pent up feelings that I was
simply afraid to for fear of the outcome. I had years worth of
resentment, anger, sadness, pain, and suffering to release. I would even
find myself writing letters I knew I could not send because they were
filled with stuff that would only sabotage what I had worked so hard to
change.



I have two favorite forms of writing letters. One I learned in my Self-Esteem training with Jack Canfield called The Total Truth Process/The Love Letter Process. I've used this process with clients as well as myself. The
letter is a six part process. It allows you to vent your anger, address
your hurt, fear, remorse, regret, name your wants, and express your
love, compassion, forgiveness, and appreciation. This process is not
only meant to release negative feelings, it is also for bringing us back
to the state of love and acceptance that is our natural being, where
our well spring of joy and creativity flows. The Success Principles by
Jack Canfield has the complete process in it.


The second is to write yourself a letter and then mail it. In a few days you will enjoy what you read. I like to write a love letter of sorts. Perhaps, you can
address it to yourself directly by name, or best friend, or to your inner
child. You can tell her/him how proud you are of an accomplishment, or how
much you love her/him, you get the idea. You can also write a letter to a
significant person in your life telling them all about an event that was
extremely important to you. There is something magical about a hand
written letter. So, please don't type your letter. Besides there is more
creativity that flows from us when we hand write.