I recently had a chance to catch up with fellow writer B. Lynn Goodwin, author of
You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers (Tate Publishing 2008), the description of which reads:
Over fifty million caregivers spend every spare minute driving to medical appointments, stopping at the pharmacy, cooking, answering questions, paying bills, and helping with matters that used to be private. They feel trapped in an endless loop and need to release the stress of caregiving. B. Lynn Goodwins new book, You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers allows users to process their stress and celebrate what is right. It gives readers open-ended instructions on spilling their guts in the safety of a private journal and offers two hundred sentence starts to help them begin writing.
Lynn is managing editor of
WriterAdvice,a blog that publishes author interviews and book reviews while also offering information on writing markets. Her work has appeared in
Voices of Caregivers;
Hip Mama; the
Oakland Tribune; the
Contra Costa Times; the
Danville Weekly;
Staying Sane When You’re Dieting;
Small Press Review;
Dramatics Magazine; Career; We Care; Thickjam.com, Friction Magazine, and
The Sun. She also writes and teaches for
Story Circle Network, a website dedicated to helping women tell their stories, and blogs for
InspireMeToday.
I asked if she'd send a guest post and she offered the following:
Write to Save Yourself
When I was my mother’s caregiver, journaling saved me. In there, I could vent, process, evaluate, and find hope. My journal allowed me to finish a thought without interruption. It gave me perspective.
Often I would start with one of these three simple sentence starters:
• Today I feel…
• Today I believe…
• Today I want….
Any response was right, as long as it came from the heart.
Here are two brief responses to “Today I feel…”:
Today I feel sad. You didn’t want your breakfast. You didn’t want to talk. Neither do I. I want to stare at the dust motes floating in the sunshine that’s streaming through the screen door. So mindless. Like me. If I were a dust mote, I’d have no hands or feet or responsibilities.
Today I feel hopeful because Kristi is coming in while I go shopping and I’ll have an extra hour. I’ve been e-mailing this really nice sixty-year-old divorced man on Craigslist, and today we’re going to meet for coffee at Starbucks. I have a coffee date and I feel like a teenager sneaking away to meet some hottie.
How would you complete a sentence that starts with “Today I feel…?” Try it right now. Write 15 to 1500 words.
Want to know what rings true? Send your responses to Lgood67334 AT comcast DOT net.
Journaling releases mental toxins and deepens awareness. It helps the strong, sane, safe, healthy, hopeful parts of you emerge.
Feel free to send a response to me for posting.
Thank you, Lynn, for providing a great offers all writers, whether they're caregivers or not, a strategy for offloading angst.
Happy writing!
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