When I first started my blog a few years ago, I chose the "blogger" format because I thought it would be an easy way to get a website up and running for myself. Even though I still use it as my "website", it really has turned into a photographic and written journal of my experiences and interests over the past few years. Looking back over many of my posts, I am able to relive and enjoy many of the experiences I've had with fly-fishing. Keeping the journal has reignited my interest in writing, and also helped me structure my thoughts and ideas in more creative ways. It has also helped inspire me in ways. I received an email recently from a woman named Melanie Bowen. She came across my blog and commented to me that she not only enjoyed the content, but could see how I was using it to catalog desires, wishes and goals, as well as maybe inspire others through my fishing reports, stories and photographs. I had never really thought about it like that before. Melanie has recently been invited to contribute to the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog. She reminded me that getting things down on paper can be a way to better your own health and healing, especially in times of illness or treatment. Since I'm convinced that fly-fishing is a great way to maintain and heal the heart, soul and body, I've attached a "guest post" here from Melanie that she wrote about this subject. Check out
The Mesothelioma Blog to learn more! Thank you for this Melanie! Here's a couple of my favorite pictures (that I have posted here before). Liz McCabe, 100 years old, and Mikey Shore, 8 years old, both catching fish on dry flies from the front of my boat. Very inspirational!
For many people, writing is a task that they do not think much about. It is something that they do to communicate with others, to remind themselves of things, and to make sure that their thoughts are organized. So many people do not realize that writing could be an extremely powerful tool for them, that it can help them figure out what they want to do and how they can do it! If you have never considered what writing can do for you, now is the time to start, especially for those with any medical diagnosis--from mesothelioma to multiple sclerosis,one can be thrown into a tailspin.
When dealing with illness, diagnosis and prognosis, it is easy to feel lost. You may be suddenly concerned that you don’t know what to do with yourself, or simply at sea in the wide range of information that you are suddenly flooded with. This is where producing some information of your own can make all the difference.
When you write and journal, you are creating structure and order from nothing at all. You are putting your thoughts on the page and making them a reality. You’ll find that writing down your feelings and your dreams gives them solidity and a reality that they did not have before, and at the end of the day, you’ll be able to look them over and see them for what they are. Your words are the first step that you can take towards making your dreams a reality.
Use writing to organize your thoughts. If you need to use lists and tools at first, go right ahead. As an example, make a list of five things that you love, five things that you want out of your life, and five things that you want to do in the next three days or this season. This helps you stay on track and if you write without stopping, you can also move forward and learn more about what your brain is telling you what you need and want.
Writing takes time, and though you might feel hurried and rushed, remember that this is something that may only take a few minutes from your day. Grab five minutes right before you go to bed or just as you wake up; think about how little it takes to write a sentence about what is going on around you, or an observation that you made during the course of the day.
Put your journal online on a blog for everyone to see (to motivate others), or keep it private from the rest of the world on paper. Your journal is your tool, and it should serve and inspire you. Use it to help you focus your thoughts, to focus your dreams and to learn more about yourself and what you want to do.
