For today's post, I thought I would write about writing or more precisely I about how writing can benefit therapeutically and for personal growth from a my own experiences. I would never profess to be in the position to tell others how writing can help them and they should take it up, but I can share about how it impacts me.
I would assume that when people attempt to envision a writer, they might see a quirky recluse or dapper intellectual, hunched over a desk, crumpled paper strewn about as they obsessively work on the next great work of fiction, or at least that might be the image pictured by people of my generation. Today, it might be someone hunched over a keyboard, fingers typing furiously, in a stream of consciousness prose, which can be deleted or edited at any time without the waste of paper. But writing is so much more. The simple act of putting thoughts together on paper or on some other medium can make all of us writers, even if we don’t have the talent to be the next great novelist. The simply act of keeping some form of diary, is a form of written expression which might benefit the writer even if no one even reads those words. In most cases, writing is a personal act, one that can be useful as a tool for thinking, expression, and creativity, great novelists and writer's block be damned. I am sure that if you as around were able to get honest feedback, you would find that there are a lot of people that have at some point tried some form of "writing", even in the most simplest forms.Most writing is probably some type of “expressive writing,” or simply jotting down what you think and how you feel. Even blogging through a simply personal website with limited readership can undoubtedly afford similar benefits to private expressive writing in terms of the personal value in might bring. I started this website and blog in early 2009 when I was first selected to be on the coaching staff for the Canadian women's soccer team that would participate at the FISU game. I saw it as a type of online diary where I could share about my coaching experiences and the games itself. I posted pictures, had some of the athletes write posts during our time in Serbia etc. Yes, I can say there was probably a certain level of self promotion involved but it was really for me a way to capture an experience. I extend the topics I posted about to cover my Stingers soccer seasons but I never really was able to keep it up in any consistent manner. If you tale a look on the right side of this page, you can see the months/years where I have posted and between 2011 and 2017, there were sporadic attempts to post but they were few and far in between. Then in the spring of 2017, I started posting more regularly. Granted having a bigger footprint on social media and the ease with which I could link my posts to Facebook and twitter gave it an added caché as I felt the perception that I was able to reach a somewhat larger audience. Sometimes I would post and my site would get tons of visits and sometimes, not so much. Unlike past attempts to consistently add content to the blog, since May of last year, I have continued to post regularly. As time has passed, the motivation has become less about reaching people and more about how the writing makes me feel. Of course the majority of my posts are about soccer, coaching and women's sports or women in sport. There are the subjects I feel most knowledgeable about and comfortable sharing on. However, as I am no longer coaching, I find myself looking to branch out and have started to explore other topics, sharing about my personal opinions, situation and even some fiction. I have always been a very avid reader, mostly of fiction, but also biographies and historical books. I find reading to be very mentally stimulating and a way to create a bubble around myself and forget about everything else that might be going on in my life. In many ways, writing has become a parallel activity to reading, I enjoy the process of thinking up a topic about which to write, putting together my thoughts and then putting down the words the express those thoughts. Sometimes I really plan out the post and others, it is simply a stream of consciousness flow, where I write as the words and thoughts come to my mind. I have discovered something very rewarding and therapeutic about writing, to the point that I don't allow myself to get lazy and skip too many days of writing and posting. I use free time, in the office before work or during lunch time to write. At any given time, I might have 3 or 4 articles going on where I will add or edit as the mood strikes. eventually choosing one to complete and post. So what does writing do for me ? Although being a coach is somewhat a public persona, and my work responsibilities require me to interact very regularly with a wide range of people, at the core, I consider myself shy and somewhat of an introvert and loner. I believe that if you were to ask around to anyone that is in contact with me regularly, those words might not be the first they would chose to describe. I think, and again, just my opinion, that many would say I am outgoing, personable, comfortable talking ( and leading ) groups, etc. There are time when I might display a certain laziness with words creating difficulty in expressing true feelings, sharing experiences, and communicating with others. As we work and coach required it, I have taught myself to be comfortable communicating as needed but the truth is that in terms of very personal communication, this is limited. Being able to flesh out my thoughts in my mind only to have them come stumbling out when I spoke was always supremely frustrating as a teenager and young adult. Yes, as I have matured and gained experience and confidence, it has become much easier. However now, regular writing seems to offer a new tool for me to be able to formulate my thoughts and opinions, while allowing me to experiment with a different voice to express them. Writing helps eliminate “it sounded good in my head” by forcing my to think about not only what I want to share but how. It provides me with the opportunity to imagine how others might interpret my thoughts even when I am not there right in front of them. It is one thing to hear someone talk in a dynamic conversation and quite another to have someone read your opinions and to be able to go back and do so a few times. Have you ever had too many Internet tabs open at once on your computer or Ipad ? It is a madhouse of distraction, jumping around the different tabs, looking up information that have no connection. Or perhaps, you use Wikipedia, you start reading on one topic, then you come across a link that looks interesting so you click on that, then another, and another. Well sometimes at work or in my life in general, I feel like my brain has too many tabs open at once or I find myself going from one thought to another as I try and process all the things happening around me, it’s often the result of trying to mentally juggle too many thoughts at the same time. Writing gives form to me ideas and gets them out of my head. It also serves as a calming mechanism that I can apply elsewhere; stop, think it through, decide what I want to express, them how I want to express it. Information often sticks better when it’s learned as though it needs to be taught or re-written in your own words. For me, this concept means, not just expressing my thoughts but thinking about how to express them with the mindset of how I want others to interpret them. There’s a certain discipline required to create interesting written work that demands the individual be receptive and focused on finding new sources of information, inspiration, and insight. I read books, listen to podcasts/radio, and browse the web I would normally have put off in order to learn something new so that I might write about later. Writing around a certain topic for some time allows me to build off of older thoughts, utilizing what I’ve already written to develop ideas on a bigger scale or in order to reach a broader audience. It also allows me to expand on details or develop a new perspective on a topic based on recent events, new information I might discover and most importantly refine the message I am trying to send. Have you ever had those days when you arrive at work and then sit there for a couple of hours, waiting for your brain to warm up enough so you could be articulate and productive? That’s a massive waste of time, especially since anything you’d be forced to tackle during that warm-up might be half-assed at best. Do a little writing first thing in the morning as I arrive at the office, in theory after a night's sleep has become a perfect way to begin my day. I don't have to always get through a full post but even just putting done some ideas for a post, jotting down some general ideas about a specific topic, or getting something started, jump starts my brain and gets me ready for work. It should be noted that as I commute in and based on the train schedule, I am typically in a littler early and well before most of my coworkers. Sometimes it is just about letting all the first thoughts of the morning flood their way onto the screen. What good does all of this do? It allows me to self-vent any frustrations/worries that may have percolated overnight, thus allowing me to begin the day with a clean slate. It’s also a great means of self-exploration and reflection. Sometimes, there are articles that I've started that will never make their way onto this blog, however the simply act of stimulating my imagination allows me work on my writing style. I also find that writing is a great tool for expanding my vocabulary and ways to express the same thoughts in different ways. I consider myself well educated and fairly intelligent but like many people I might fall into patterns. Writing is a form of communication and knowing that people who might not know me very well could come across my blog and read my thoughts, forces to to explore the art of writing, how to draw people in, how to keep them interested, how to express what I thing and feel without coming across as arrogant or preachy. In an era when texting and tweeting are the main vehicles for communication, many people find that their mental word banks are dwindling in favor of creative ways to condense thoughts into as few words and characters as possible. This can be problematic when you’re sitting in a meeting and can’t remember vital jargon, or if you’re writing an essay and have a word dancing just on the periphery of your memory, but it won’t come through; you’ll likely end up using a term that isn’t completely appropriate, unless you spend time sifting through a thesaurus to find the right word. Most of us have very busy schedules as well as a fair bit of stress on our minds, and it’s not uncommon for these things to weigh on us when we actually have a few moments’ respite from non-stop responsibilities—like when we’re trying to sleep. Writing, like reading was for many years and still is, have become an escape from that. Just the thought of coming up with topics for my blog is a way to reflect on all the great things that might have happened to me over the course of the day or ,my life and everything in between. As I get comfortable writing more and more, I will continue to expand the range of topics. I will fail with some of course, or venture into areas that I might not know as well as coaching or soccer but just the process with stimulate my imagination and motivate me for learning. It is a great feeling as I get older and feel less active to discover new ways to expand my horizons. Who knows, maybe one day, I just might write the next great work of fiction !
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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