by Malene Kai Bell
I will not scam you, I will only say that the guilt we carry inside ourselves is as damaging to the soul as Job’s losses and as heavy as the rock that Sisiphyus rolled up and down the hill for eternity.
The Greek word for guilt is harmatia, meaning to “miss the mark”. This definition feels accurate because it isn’t as caged in as English “guilt” which entails a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some crime or wrongdoing. Harmatia has a redemptive quality and its meaning gives us insight about how to make peace with guilt and her child, shame. So often guilt makes us feel that the end of the world is upon us, but, Henny Penny, the sky is not falling down. We can forgive ourselves, first, by learning who we are, where we missed the mark, and just how multifaceted and humorous we can be.
Writing, and specifically personal, creative writing offers a tangible way to transform guilt into Wisdom. Here’s how: Creativity comes from the Creator and creativity allows us to step inside and outside of our current level of understanding or our current emotional-thought pattern and dive into another skin, another perspective. In his book Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth, radical priest, Father Matthew Fox, writes, “No one can predict what gifts the human imagination has in store for us, for imagination is a thing of mystery, a treasure house of secrets untapped until some genuine invitation comes along to elicit them. To experience our own creativity, …invariably involves a return to our origins, [and] constitutes a rebirth of self that holds the key…” The imagination and creativity that roams freely inside of us contains the ability to liberate us.
In creative writing, I call this ability Reimagination. And in my course, Reimagination: Healing Through Writing we learn how to reimagine in four powerful ways:
We write full-out a story of pain, tragedy, or loss, and then transform it into Wisdom by rewriting the details. Some women receive a message directly from Spirit, while others face head on their own resistances and blocks, which we massage during the course.
We fictionalize ourselves and others through a change in point of view. We write our stories from the outside in and shed the skin of the old.
We reconnect with loved ones who have passed and imprinted their legacy upon us, and who still, beyond space and time, have words of Wisdom to offer us.
We learn how to transcend the chatter of the mind and speak directly to the Heart in order to discern its language and offer “it” more space in our lives (which always means more fulfillment.)
I must confess, to be guilt-free is challenging. The journey takes a tremendous amount of courage, Heart, and visibility. As women, sometimes we swallow our hearts too soon or tuck them away into passive journals hidden in trunks or solemn dresser drawers. But creative writing is a precise unlock. In your “missed mark” (or your characters) is yours or another woman’s freedom; and in her freedom, your redemption.
Join us 9:00 – 11:00 am September 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th at Women in Wellness for the full four-week course Reimagination: Healing Through Writing and learn to use creative writing as a tool of Self-liberation and Self-Healing.
Contact Malene at malene@womeninwellnessmd.com to register.
