Bringing the facts discovered by research on the healing benefits of writing into the daily perspective of self-discovery, this self-paced book offers a life-long adventure into living healthier and having more fun doing it.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have been journaling steadily for over twenty years, and did my first journal at the age of ten. I have also done a workshop with Sheppard Kominars, which prompted me to write daily on what I find surprising, moving, and memorable. I have kept dream journals. But this book goes well beyond my own previous notions about journaling, positing as it does that writing a journal is a way to heal. (I have tended to see mine rather as an extended prayer). Twenty-four chapters on topics from Legacy Letters to Zen to "Not Yets" to, finally, embracing Death will bring any reader new insight into journaling.
Kominars begins by extensive attention to the basics: the pen, the paper, the place and time of writing, the various blocks that keep us from starting, or going on. A second section explores the idea of the journal writer as a survivor engaged in healing the self. I was most moved by the journal excerpt from Marjorie Fleming, written in the early nineteenth century at the age of seven. Kominars stresses the privacy of one's journal and the importance of realizing you are writing only for yourself, but paradoxically quotes from a number of journal writers whose work has been published posthumously.
Once you have ingested the idea that the journal is an external source for healing and self-understanding, you pass on to Kominar's extensive third section, which treats various kinds of topics that might encourage one's own process of growth. One could write about food, travel, creativity, meditation, or joy, for example, and Kominars presents valuable ideas for lists on which one might write later, such as the topics one sees as taboo. No reader will leave this book without new ideas about how your journal can bring you deeper into yourself and closer to the world around you and those you love. Many exercises guide you in this process, and the bibliography is extensive. I encourage anybody interested in writing a journal to buy and read this book, whether you're just thinking about starting or have been writing for decades. You won't regret it.
Kominars begins by extensive attention to the basics: the pen, the paper, the place and time of writing, the various blocks that keep us from starting, or going on. A second section explores the idea of the journal writer as a survivor engaged in healing the self. I was most moved by the journal excerpt from Marjorie Fleming, written in the early nineteenth century at the age of seven. Kominars stresses the privacy of one's journal and the importance of realizing you are writing only for yourself, but paradoxically quotes from a number of journal writers whose work has been published posthumously.
Once you have ingested the idea that the journal is an external source for healing and self-understanding, you pass on to Kominar's extensive third section, which treats various kinds of topics that might encourage one's own process of growth. One could write about food, travel, creativity, meditation, or joy, for example, and Kominars presents valuable ideas for lists on which one might write later, such as the topics one sees as taboo. No reader will leave this book without new ideas about how your journal can bring you deeper into yourself and closer to the world around you and those you love. Many exercises guide you in this process, and the bibliography is extensive. I encourage anybody interested in writing a journal to buy and read this book, whether you're just thinking about starting or have been writing for decades. You won't regret it.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Storytelling is one of our most fundamental and enduring needs. Our stories define us. They are the vehicles of meaning and they serve as the narrative of our views about our world and ourselves. We all constantly tell stories that shape virtually every human activity from our emotions to our personal relationships and our politics. One of the casualties of the pharmacological eclipse of the "talk therapies," has been that many people are no longer being encouraged to explore the meaning of their distress.
Writing our stories introduces another dynamic: most of us find that putting out thoughts and feelings down on paper helps to give us mental and emotional clarity.
This book is not the first to discuss journal writing as a method of healing, but it is one of the best that I have read.
In the foreword by the author of Angela's Ashes: A Memoir, Frank McCourt says, "Why, oh why, didn't someone walk up to me when I was 25 and stumbling, and hand me a book like this?"
The answer is that as far as I know, there was no such book. This one is unique and the fruit of fifty years or regular journaling combined with practical experience of using journal writing for therapy. Sheppard Kominars was first encouraged to use journaling at a time in the mid-1950s when he was suffering from intractable headaches. To his astonishment they began to become more manageable and then to subside. He continued writing over the years, and his writing supported him during the vicissitudes of life, particularly when he developed another kind of physical illness. In recent years he has taken his method on the road, teaching journal writing to a new generation of people with chronic illnesses, in the hope that writing will help them articulate and make sense of their experiences.
In the last few years a small body of evidence has indicated that journal writing may be highly therapeutic for people with some kinds of problems, and it may also act to prevent some psychological difficulties. Sheppard's experience would seem to endorse that research.
The book really does begin at the beginning, even dealing with the kind of book and paper to use. Sheppard then takes us through the practicalities of what, when and where to write.
For many years now I have encouraged people to use storytelling as a method of writing and re-writing their life stories, all the time unaware of Sheppard Kominars' work. So this book particularly fascinated me. The methods that he details not only help people struggling with health problems, but can also be potent vehicles for building our personal resilience to the slings and arrows that are an inevitable part of life.
I hope that this book has a very wide readership and that it becomes the catalyst not only for a wider use of writing in healthcare and wellness, but also that it prompts further scientific investigations into its use.
For teachers, people who would like to maintain their health, as well as people struggling with physical and psychological problems, this is a must read!
Very highly recommended.
Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life
Writing our stories introduces another dynamic: most of us find that putting out thoughts and feelings down on paper helps to give us mental and emotional clarity.
This book is not the first to discuss journal writing as a method of healing, but it is one of the best that I have read.
In the foreword by the author of Angela's Ashes: A Memoir, Frank McCourt says, "Why, oh why, didn't someone walk up to me when I was 25 and stumbling, and hand me a book like this?"
The answer is that as far as I know, there was no such book. This one is unique and the fruit of fifty years or regular journaling combined with practical experience of using journal writing for therapy. Sheppard Kominars was first encouraged to use journaling at a time in the mid-1950s when he was suffering from intractable headaches. To his astonishment they began to become more manageable and then to subside. He continued writing over the years, and his writing supported him during the vicissitudes of life, particularly when he developed another kind of physical illness. In recent years he has taken his method on the road, teaching journal writing to a new generation of people with chronic illnesses, in the hope that writing will help them articulate and make sense of their experiences.
In the last few years a small body of evidence has indicated that journal writing may be highly therapeutic for people with some kinds of problems, and it may also act to prevent some psychological difficulties. Sheppard's experience would seem to endorse that research.
The book really does begin at the beginning, even dealing with the kind of book and paper to use. Sheppard then takes us through the practicalities of what, when and where to write.
For many years now I have encouraged people to use storytelling as a method of writing and re-writing their life stories, all the time unaware of Sheppard Kominars' work. So this book particularly fascinated me. The methods that he details not only help people struggling with health problems, but can also be potent vehicles for building our personal resilience to the slings and arrows that are an inevitable part of life.
I hope that this book has a very wide readership and that it becomes the catalyst not only for a wider use of writing in healthcare and wellness, but also that it prompts further scientific investigations into its use.
For teachers, people who would like to maintain their health, as well as people struggling with physical and psychological problems, this is a must read!
Very highly recommended.
Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you had to pick a perfect doctor, Sheppard Kominars would come close to filling the bill: warm, compassionate, caring and knowledgeable. Happily, Write for Life gives you unlimited access to just that kind of doctor. Dr. Kominars, a/k/a "the journal doctor," has been through some of the roughest waters on the river of life, and he has not only survived but come up smiling. I know, as I've met the man. He's an inspiration and he's happy to share all his healing insights.
Start reading his book and it's as if you're sitting in front of a fireplace with him, having a chat. There's no presumption or esoteric theories, just good, grounded wisdom, given straight from the heart. I especially liked the practicality of Dr. Kominars' advice. From finding a good journal and pen to overcoming writer's block and figuring out what to write about, he knows just where you're apt to get stuck and provides exactly the suggestions and encouragement needed to get going and keep going.
Finally, as a kitchen coach and healthy eating guide, I was delighted to see an entire chapter on journaling about food and nutrition. I had never considered how journaling can help us take ever greater delight and comfort from this area of our lives. As the last 15 chapters reveal, however, journaling can heal and improve a whole lot of areas within our lives.
Start reading his book and it's as if you're sitting in front of a fireplace with him, having a chat. There's no presumption or esoteric theories, just good, grounded wisdom, given straight from the heart. I especially liked the practicality of Dr. Kominars' advice. From finding a good journal and pen to overcoming writer's block and figuring out what to write about, he knows just where you're apt to get stuck and provides exactly the suggestions and encouragement needed to get going and keep going.
Finally, as a kitchen coach and healthy eating guide, I was delighted to see an entire chapter on journaling about food and nutrition. I had never considered how journaling can help us take ever greater delight and comfort from this area of our lives. As the last 15 chapters reveal, however, journaling can heal and improve a whole lot of areas within our lives.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Write for Life" Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit Through Journal...
I'm finding this book is helping me to "open up" my emotions. As the book describes so eloquently by its author, Sheppard K. Read more
Published on October 11, 2008 by Virginia F. Papp
A Great Book
This book is easy to read, understand and follow. I have read many books on writing and journaling and this one got me started and is keeping me going.
Published on July 4, 2008 by Nancy Mcalley
Bland, Cliche-Ridden, PC-Dominated, New Age Garbage
I read this book cover-to-cover without doing any of the exercises or practices. I wasn't moved to. Read more
Published on February 1, 2008 by G. Charles Steiner
An invaluable relevance for aspiring writers
Sheppard B. Kominars began teaching writing in 1956 at Washington College, has been a journal writer for more than fifty years, and has written two previous books on the subject of... Read more
Published on January 6, 2008 by Midwest Book Review
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Indian Way, Last Rights, Healing the Survivor, Lifelong Journaling, American Indian Spirituality, Creating the Letters, The Essence of Zen, Soren Kierkegaard, Jamie Sams, New York, Puerto Rico, Good Red Road, Kachinas Kutenai, Legacy Letters Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Indian Way, Last Rights, Healing the Survivor, Lifelong Journaling, American Indian Spirituality, Creating the Letters, The Essence of Zen, Soren Kierkegaard, Jamie Sams, New York, Puerto Rico, Good Red Road, Kachinas Kutenai, Legacy Letters Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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