For a homework assignment in my therapeutic writing training, I had to summarize a study supporting the use of expressive writing for a specific issue. Since I am interested in how to use journaling to deal with burnout in shidduchim, I used an article on workplace burnout as a starting point. The writing protocol in the study required participants to write for two sessions about an unfair experience (describing it; i.e. sense-making), and an additional two sessions about something positive the experience gave them (meaning-making). Which led me to think about what my experiences have given me.
I realized they have given me a lot — which isn’t a new thought, but one I haven’t sat with in awhile.
In an attempt to help myself forge ahead, I have had to dig deep within myself and also reach out to other people. I have had to learn and keep learning, about coping, about suffering, about myself, about life, in order to continuously find a way forward. I’ve become serially passionate about topics that have enlarged me and expanded my life through the pursuit of their knowledge and integration, and I am proud of this and grateful for it:
- hope
- compassion
- creativity
- grief
- burnout
- courage
- friendship, connection, and community-building
Because of these years, I became a social worker. I started a blog. I have had experiences that are unique and will enable me to help people in ways most helpers do not know how to help. A corner of the world is brighter, and I am better, because of what I have been through. It means something. And this comforts me.
