If writing is your way of expressing emotion, thinking about who you are and what you feel, and becoming compassionate towards yourself, try these exercises.
Exercise 1: One emotion
Choose one emotion that you think is the most powerful emotion you have been feeling lately and write about a memory that you have when you first felt this emotion. Describe the event that prompted your emotion and then explain what you felt and why. Draw a life lesson from this experience.
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Exercise 2: Acrostic poem
Choose an illness and write an acrostic poem about it. An acrostic poem is a poem where certain letters in each line spell out a word or phrase. Typically, the first letters of each line are used to spell the message, but they can appear anywhere. The poem does not have to be perfect but it has to be honest.
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Exercise 3: Blackout poetry
Open an old book, any book that you wish to re-purpose. You may use a newspaper article. Begin to isolate words or phrases from this text to create something lyrical. Piece together the words you discover in the process of blacking out the rest of the text. Finally, transcribe your selected words on a blank page. Use line breaks.
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Exercise 4: A new disease
Invent a new disease. List its symptoms, describe its onset, and write about its effects. Write an encyclopedia entry for this disease.
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Exercise 5: Doctor's diaries
Imagine you are a doctor and have to give terrible news to a family. You are tormented by the thought and find solace in your journal. Write an entry describing your emotions, fears, or whatever else you need to express your feelings.
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Exercise 6: Extended metaphor
Go anywhere outside and choose one plant to observe in detail. Imagine a comparison between this plant and the human body, and white an extended metaphor by filling in the following
My name is____________
my body______________ my limbs______________ my skin color___________ my heart______________ the soles of my feet_______ my veins______________ my hair_______________ my eyes_______________ my tongue_____________ my lungs______________ my voice______________ my pain_____________ am I. |
Exercise 7: Blogging
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Exercise 8: Short Story
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Interview or invent a person who is struggling with a disease or disorder. Think about their life, their aspirations, and their coping methods. Write a personal blog entry in this person's perspective.
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Write a short story (1,000 words or less) describing an event that you had with a loved one who was ill. How did you react? What were your thoughts? The story can be fictional or based on true experiences, or even a mix of both.
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