Writing can bring clarity to the muddy chaos of grief.

By Grace O.

You’ve probably heard that writing can be therapeutic. That’s because it’s true. While I’ve always been one to write my feelings out, it became a lifesaver for me in the days, months and years following my termination of a very much wanted pregnancy after a devastating prenatal diagnosis. When I think of all the journal entries, the heartfelt posts on our old discussion board, the articles and novels I’ve written, I know writing through my grief has helped me tremendously.

Writing can help us sort out our feelings and think everything through. And when we’re brave enough to share it, it can helps us reach others who may be experiencing a similar stage of grief.

Maribeth Doerr, the wonderful prenatal and infant loss grief counselor who founded this grief community way back when it was a printed newsletter, and who in the mid 1990s created the original version of our website, puts it eloquently: Writing can be an outlet for these knotted up feelings, a way of unraveling the stuck. I have often found writing to be a new way of seeing my thoughts in black and white which brings more clarity to the muddy chaos of grief.