How to heal writers' trauma?

How are my dearest Story Time readers from around the world doing? I have missed you guys so much! If you are new here don't forget to jump onto the Story Time U.F.O. so that we can go on a lot of self-love adventures together.  And I am planning to go on a lot of adventures this year. As you can see in this recent picture of mine, I am very tired! What can I say, one way or another with all the different adventures that I experience I manage to wear different kinds of capes in the world! Now that is no easy task, because of it I can relate more to the Superheroes we watch on T.V. and read about! Imagine how hard it is to run an empire and at the same time go save the city every night? The Bats don't play around with that. Yes, I am tipping my toes around copyright claims haha.  Despite being very tired and running a busy life I still find a way to fuel my creativity.  I am sure every writer can relate to that struggle!  Sometimes it is procrastination and sometimes it is the writer's trauma. Now you might wonder what writer trauma is? Let me explain how my inner philosopher only recently processed this concept through deeply analyzing my own experiences. Because that's what people that want to practice self-love do. Just like I teach all of you how to practice self-love in my other self-love articles. Self-love has become an important tool that I will be using for the rest of my journey.  Ever since I started I noticed a huge difference in my life. Especially when it comes to the direction I go in and the way I treat myself. Because the most important thing, if I find validation within myself I don't need to seek it on the outside. When you start to look at things that way it becomes a lot easier to shine your light. If writing is an art, then I like to believe that the way our light shines impacts our ability to create. With light creation becomes visible. Now we can look at this from a scientific perspective but I want you guys to research that for yourself. I assume that the greatest ability that humanity is gifted with is the ability to think. Therefore we must make use of this gift as often as we can.  Let me get back to explaining the writer's trauma now that you have a grasp of why self-love is very important to bring out all forms of creativity. I was lost in deep thought a few days ago when I remembered this trauma that I experienced that affected my creativity and writing skills indirectly.  It then dawned upon me that ever since I had that bad experience I never wrote a lot again. I mean I do write, for my blog, my books, the projects I am involved in, and the assignments I have to do for all these international courses that I am taking.  But the pace of my writing could have been more frequent. Now let's not misunderstand this with me placing pressure on myself.  Knowing myself and the writer that I was, I seemed to be more out of touch with my favorite escape. I started writing stories when I was six years old. Even with my bad spelling, I'd end up writing pages full of fairy tales. My inspiration to create stories came from the different kinds of stories that my father would tell me as a little girl. He would tell me stories about gnomes and all kinds of different fairy tale adventures that they had. I always enjoyed hearing these stories and it didn't take long before I wanted to create my own stories. I was very different from a young age on. That is something I get told a lot whenever I end up meeting old elementary school friends. I also had a passion for reading and learning about history. I read certain history books before I even got history in class. That's why the subject was easy for me to score A plusses on.  In one day I could read 10 books for you because that is all I ever did as a kid. I didn't have a lot of friends, so my main form of entertainment was reading books and watching cartoons. I had a lot of toys, but I didn't even like playing with them.  As a child, a lot of people tried to make me feel bad because of the fact that I was different. But surprisingly the older people thought I was smart. I could get along with them easier because I jumped at every opportunity to engage in intellectual conversation.  Still, there were a lot of people that made me feel like it wasn't safe for me to show how intelligent I am. Because even when I tried putting an effort into it, someone with my age apparently wasn't capable of thinking this way. This led to the fact that my work and effort were always challenged. Especially when people tell you that you "don't look smart" whatever that is supposed to mean. But even those experiences were meant to be a part of my journey so that I could find my value and learn to trust on my own instincts from a young age. I always felt like I had to hide who I am. But do you know what reason thought changed all of that for me? It's not my fault that God made me this way and I owe no one an apology for being who I am. My writer trauma stems from people telling me that writing shouldn't be for girls like me, or that you can't do anything by writing poems all day. And a lot of other traumatizing events, but you guys get the picture. It indirectly had an effect and impact on my talent.  Something that I would never realize if I wasn't willing to go into introspection.  Now, look at me, who would have thought? That little girl that got picked on for writing her stories, has become a writer/ blogger. A local Surinamese girl expressing her creativity through stories and you guys read my work from different parts of the world. I want to thank all of you for supporting me. Now that you have heard a piece of my story, try the figure out what is at the base of your writer's trauma. Feel free to share in the comments, because this is a safe space for everyone! Here are 5 tactics that help me to heal the writer's trauma:

                       1. Embrace and value your talent!

Sometimes you just have to embrace the gifts that you are blessed with. A part of embracing your gift is valuing your talent. Even when the world, family members, or society don't have faith in your abilities. I always like to say that other people their insecurities should not become yours.  It doesn't matter what your talent is, but if you aren't the first one to embrace it and to hold faith in your own gifts then you won't make it far.  I know it sounds cliche but it really all starts with you! The way you feel about yourself, the way you treat yourself and the amount of energy that you invest into who you are will determine where you end up in life. How will you be able to love others in a proper way, if you can't love yourself? To fully appreciate who you are, you must embrace and value the talent that you possess. When you accept your gifts and acknowledge your talent as a part of your identity, it is easier to express it and to share it with the world. You don't focus on perfection, instead, you focus on growth.  The people who focus on growth are aware of the things that they must chase to live a fulfilled life. Not because people place you in a box, it means that you should keep yourself and your potential trapped in it. 

2. Let go of the trauma and the emotions that keep your creativity trapped, because those experiences do not define you!

Let go of all the pain that you felt from people not believing in you. Let go of all the words that they have thrown at your head.  Let go of all the trauma that you carried in your life.  Because these are the wounds that block you from building a content life. These are things that made you feel less worthy, insecure, and even anxious. If you want to build the life of your dreams there is no room for extra baggage. We can only learn from it and feel it. But what good does it do, to repeat the pain from the past? That sounds like a disastrous recipe to torture your own mind and soul! Make room for positive experiences so you may enjoy life. Don't torture yourself, to deprive yourself of being happy. That is just the thing that the people that hurt you want to see. Ignore them, and erase the pain from your heart. Use it as a fertilizer to grow a beautiful garden. Your garden can be filled with love, success, abundance, joy, pleasure, and other beautiful " flowers".   The only thing that you need to do is clear out the weeds. What kind of grass do you need to cut from your garden if your life is like a garden? We decide what we feed, and we decide what we allow to grow. Make sure that you give the beautiful plants more attention. Feed them and they will nurture you! As for the weeds, it's up to you how long you want them to stay there and at what rate they grow.  In other words, I am trying to say, fertilize the right things in life, that is the only way you can go through this life without having regrets at the end of it. I keep telling people how short life is, but sometimes I don't think they know what I mean.

                       3. Allow your creativity to flow free!

It is very important that we allow our creativity to be free. If we don't do that, we are limiting our ability to create. The ability to create has long fascinated humanity, so I wouldn't be the first one!  Make sure that when you are in your creativity zone, you fully let go of the mask that you wear for the outside world. Everyone has masks, that is ancient knowledge. You are not the same way with your parents as you are with a spouse, friend, colleague, classmate etcetera. The list can go on! From all the years that I have observed humans, I have concluded that the core of their conflict is the confusion that arises when they are acting in a way that they think is expected from them. This causes confusion and inner conflict. I like to think that this is one of the reasons why people are so frustrated with themselves. They don't feel like they have to freedom to fully express who they are and what it is that they desire and need in life. They fear exposing themselves because of the reaction that they might get. When you're being creative, or if you want to build an authentic and happier life there is no room for these limitations. Why do we want to feel validated by the opinions of other people that aren't happy themself? Imagine if your favorite artist, didn't create your favorite lyric, just because of the fear of how we would be perceived by the outside world? If you want to know the make your life more fulfilled with joy and love, you can't take advice from people who aren't happy themselves. You can only learn from them what can possibly happen if you decide to adopt the same patterns. The important thing is that when you are busy creating, keep your energy as authentic as possible.  

                             4. Don't let fear lead you!

And I repeat don't let fear lead you! Don't live in anxiety, don't feed the bad thoughts! Don't water the wrong flowers in your garden.  Not all plants in your mind need to be fed the same amount of energy.  Instead of living in fear, be bold and brave enough to create and innovate. Be generous enough to share your creations with the world. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there if you are good at something. With practice, we can only become better.  Be brave enough to let your voice be heard. Be brave enough to demand your respect. Let courage guide you when you take the necessary steps to build a better tomorrow and most of all enjoy the process. Because that is what is really about.  Be the main character of your story, and do what you need to do to write your destiny.  You can't have power over the people around you. But you can have power over yourself, the way you respond to situations, and how you decide to carry yourself.  Unloading all that extra baggage only makes it easier. 

                                5.  Feed your creativity!

As a writer or any person working in the creative field, you shouldn't forget to feed your creativity. Do the things that you love, and be open to seeing new places and meeting new people.  Do the things that inspire you. Make a bucket list and scrap as many adventures as you can off it. Even when we are starting small, we must keep feeding the flames inside of us. That means that from time to time you should reward yourself for simply existing.  Celebrate who you are, and show yourself some tender love and care.  This will help you to feel beautiful inside and out. The more we feed this flame of passion that lives inside us, the easier it becomes to prioritize the things that matter. This helps you put focus on the right areas. Every creative person feeds off inspiration. In return, we must feed the fire to keep enjoying the benefits.  When you feed your creativity, it can help you prevent burnout. Most of all remember to keep it fun! Enjoy the things that you love, and keep reminding yourself why you enjoy them. I can't wait to share my next story with you guys and I hope that this article on how to heal a writer's trauma was helpful. Let me know what you think in the comment section. Until next time right here on Story Time!