by biswarupsarkar72

In the WDEV radio studios with Mark Johnson this week, the well-known and pointed interviewer pressed me several times on the same point:

How does writing help a person heal?

Great question. And then the answer played out once again in the writing circle at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility last Thursday evening (which I’ll get to).

Our writing theme was journeys and travels — physical trips we have taken to beloved destinations, for example, or internal journeys we take in our minds, both desirous ones and those we’d prefer to shake for good.

Several of the women writers penned pieces about the circuitous mental loops they traverse while living in prison. You know, the disempowering messages and stories we retell ourselves in our quietest moments; the limiting beliefs we hold onto like ragged little security blankets; the questions we pose to self over and over without answer. Continue reading →