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| Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980) |
How might Darlene's advice about "how to get through horror movies" ("narrate the scary parts") be more broadly relevant life advice?
To what extent is it true "that if you say it in your words, it's less scary somehow"?
To what extent does writing something down help with emotional challenges--things that are sad, depressing, infuriating, frustrating, etc? Do the same advantages apply to talking? Praying?
Is there mere act of expression useful in itself? How important is to to have a reader or listener?
I definitely agree that talking out loud makes things less scary, though I have slightly different thoughts on writing. When I first started dogsitting in my neighborhood, I had to walk down this absolutely evil street with one streetlight that flickered. It had a storm drain and I knew vaguely of Pennywise, there was an abandoned house, and further down the street was a notoriously horrible apartment complex, so silly and completely legitimate fears were mushed together into an overwhelming fear of the job. I could never walk casually between houses. At one point, videos for people in Uber’s would get really popular. They’d pretend to be someone like a friend who was calling and the listener would fake a response back to them, making it seem to the driver that another person would know what happened if the driver kidnapped the rider. There were silly versions of this too, like where the caller would be aggressively loud and talk about “getting home from jail”. I started listening to those as I walked and found that making any noise at all, even laughing, made me feel loads better. If a normal person overheard me, they’d probably add me to the list of scary things on that street.
ReplyDeleteAs for writing, I used to have a habit (good or bad, I don’t know) of typing Reddit style stories every time I was wronged and keeping them in my notes app. It kept me from starting arguments, but I’d also say it kept a pretty detailed log of embarrassing things I was bothered over. Writing them felt cathartic, re-reading them the next day did not. It can be good to realize how far you’ve come! This is me being positive and not negative.
Sam, you made some great points. I agree that saying things in your own words makes them less scary. There have been countless times when I've been venting to someone about a sense of overwhelm I feel for something, then realize mid-rant that what I was freaking out about actually wasn't that big of a deal. Saying things out loud can not only make things seem less scary, but it can also land you some help. I remember expressing (maybe complaining) some fear about some tests in school to my mom when I was younger, and in return she offered to help me study.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Sam on writing things down. If I do, it's not usually something I want other people reading, but it's nice to be able to reflect on how much growth I've achieved. Journaling can be really helpful for people with emotional challenges. Especially if they find it hard to communicate their feelings with other people. I do also think that the same advantages apply to talking and/or praying. I think getting things off your chest is so important, regardless of how you do it.