Why it is so important to journal or blog your grief story

Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Grief can be compared to riding a roller coaster with its unexpected twists and turns much like the roller coaster in the aforementioned video.The more complicated the grief, such as in the case when a loved one commits suicide or is murdered, the more unexpected twists and turns there will be in our grief.

As I reviewed my material for this coming week's Grief Share topic on Complicating factors of grief,  I was reminded of the volatility of grief- especially when trauma is present. 

To begin with, we human beings are emotional.  We react to everyday events and situations.  Ask any mom or dad about their 2-year-old and most likely they will agree.  Our emotions and the way we are wired is what makes us human.  How many of us either feels good or really bad after watching the daily sludge of news?

When we lose a loved one, our emotions can be unpredictable as our nights are filled with flashbacks and nightmares of the one we lost and the way they died. One method that can help us in grief is journaling because writing our thoughts down on paper helps us make sense of what just happened to us. Many of the 'trauma' experts in the latest grief share video see journaling as a way of helping people experiencing trauma a better chance of processing their pain. According to the Ameican Psychological Association, the definition of trauma is as follows: 

Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. 

When I first started journaling as a college student, computers were only used by scientists. It was said that the largest supercomputer in the 1960's pales in comparison to the smartphone most of us have today.  

Consequently, in our modern age of social media, blogging has become the newest form of journaling because truth be told, many of us can type faster than we write.  Blogging also has the added advantage that we can set the privacy settings to allow only the people we want to read our blogs.  

Some people blog to be able to have something to share with their grief therapist about their emotional pain while others blog to share with their immediate loved ones so they may know how to pray for them. From a spiritual standpoint, blogging allows God to show up in your life in ways least expected through your dreams and everyday encounters you can write about so in time you feel God hasn't abandoned you in your grief journey.

Your story, like your emotions, is what defines you as a human. The way God shows up in your life becomes God's fingerprint on you- in time, as you see God's miraculous ways, others will be drawn to God through your own story.