Writing: A Cathartic Journey

Writing is a prolonged process that requires a lot of time followed by a passage of intense thinking and exploration of different things at the same time. The act of writing allows us to explore a plethora of domains that go beyond human existence. Unknowingly we become a part of the cosmic universe through the act of writing.

Catharsis is an intense word which has been interpreted and represented in a lot of different ways by various historians and theorists with the passage of time. It was first used by Aristotle in Poetics with the definition of tragedy, as one of the main genres of dramatic representation. This word has been used only once by Aristotle. Afterwards, it became an important resource of research for the theorists.

Catharsis can be considered as a process of purification and purgation that helps the excess of our emotions and feelings to get evaporated from our physical system. Although, Aristotle never explained it or even mentioned it anywhere else, critics and theorists have added layers after layers to this concept since it first appeared in Poetics. Catharsis therefore can be regarded to be a process that brings about a sense of relief through releasing our strong and repressed emotions and feelings.

It does not necessarily have to be a novel/drama/poetry so on and so forth but writing casually for no one but yourself can contribute a lot in the healing process that is something we all need in some time or the other in our life. We write when something hurts us/amuses us/makes us happy/makes us sad- there is no particular time/feeling. We tend to write all the time. In other words, writing can be viewed as a process that can be regarded as an output of our thoughts. Specifically writings that take place when the writer is in melancholic or nihilistic brings forth the intense cathartic nature of writing.

Writing is therapeutic. It unlocks our long repressed emotions and desires. It allows us to go beyond the mortal and physical boundaries and transcend to a different domain of existence that is otherwise unknowable.

The act of writing therefore can be considered as a reflector as well. It helps transferring our oppressed feelings to a different world through a pen and paper. It helps us grow. It helps us move forward through helping us with releasing our emotions. A recent psychotherapy study has come up showing people who have a habit of writing their feelings down on a daily basis are less likely to feel low. Hardships are not really that hard for them to overcome since they do not keep it all bottled up within themselves. Even a personal journal/diary can be really helpful in order to maintain a healthy balance between our emotional sphere and the societal reality.

Various psychotherapists have also focused on how writing about our fears can eventually help us get over them in a simpler and easier way. Patients with mental illness are often recommended by therapists to write down their traumatic experiences and the like that bother them. It helps us get past distressing and disturbing incidents of our life.
Writing is an honest activity that helps us transcend our real and not-so-real borders and eventually takes us to a sphere that is peaceful, calm and filled with solidarity and emotional harmony.

– Suvasree Bandyopadhyay.