Writing as Therapy

This will be a practice in metacognition in a sense as I will be writing about the thought process that I go through for writing.  Some of my blog entries get a lot of hits, some not as much.  For a while, I thought I had this figured out.  Whenever I wrote about something I deemed important, my blog wouldn't get too many hits.  Whenever I wrote about my relationship, it would get a ton.  However, for some reason my blog on profits and healthcare received 100 hits in a couple of days; and the latest one about my relationship landed in the 30's.  This was interesting and completely blew my hypothesis out of the water.  I should clarify that when I say I deem it important I mean to other people, not just to myself like I feel about my relationship.

This past summer, I busted out a ton of blog entries; I doubt anyone could keep up with them all.  I write mainly for therapeutic effect, it has a calming effect on me that is rarely matched even in my therapy sessions with my therapist.  I also write simply because I enjoy writing; as I said before it's a type of therapy for me.  It's how I think out loud in a sense.  I bounce ideas off others often never receiving feedback but every once in a while I write something that connects with the general public and a lot of people write me notes or messages like what just happened last night when I wrote about depression knocking at my door.

I started blogging back in 2008 I believe when I was in New Zealand.  I was manic at the time and had to tell people how awesome my experience that I just had was.  Well, actually I think my first blog was about excuses from girls and then I wrote some blogs about my time in New Zealand.  Either way it has opened up a new outlet for me to get some ideas on paper so to speak.  I also keep a prayer journal to God that I write in on a less frequent basis.  That one really helps me gather my thoughts when I'm feeling too scatter brained to put words to my prayers in a meaningful manner.

Over the past couple of years, I've blogged through a few episodes of depression.  It really helps me for some reason.  Just getting down what I'm feeling is surprisingly helpful.  A friend of mine paints and I have a feeling it's for the same reason I write, for personal therapy.  There are worse things for therapy, right?  Some people call it retail therapy but for me that would be awful when I saw just how much I spent in the name of therapy.  I'm too much of a budget nerd to really get any high off of shopping.

Also for therapy I enjoy working out.  This has unfortunately been an on again off again thing in my life.  Right now it's an on thing and has really helped me as I try and lose some weight.  My goal is to lose a pound a week for as long as I can keep it up.  I've given up regular soda in order to accomplish this, I'm counting calories again and I'm also working out again as stated before.  What I've realized about myself through all this is I need to spend less time, money and calories eating out.  It seems like I can't eat out without spending about 1,000 calories which is just an insane amount for one setting.