Telling Your Story

Journals and memoirs can enrich the lives of writer and reader alike

He’s preparing his memoir

Warren DeLong (right) and other residents of Allentown’s Phoebe Home are encouraged to tell their life stories as a way to reflect on the meaning of their lives. “Stories stir memories, evoke feelings and ultimately bring us into the presence of the divine,” says Rev. Allan Kramer-Moyer of Phoebe Ministries, shown here with chaplain intern Jacqueline Kuba, who helped DeLong write his memoir.

She learned the value of journaling

After losing several loved ones, Eileen Kozo of Whitehall found writing helped her cope “at a time when grief might have overwhelmed me.” On Father’s Day, she wrote to her deceased father in her journal, telling him how repotting his violet made her feel close to him.

What does keeping a journal have to do with health? “Plenty,” says Lorraine Gyauch, R.N., nurse educator at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “Journaling actually stimulates the production of immune-boosting cells. It also lowers stress hormone levels, just as yoga and meditation do.” Brain scans show that writing about the events and emotions in your life involves both hemispheres of the brain—integrating your thoughts and feelings and giving you a sense of well-being.

That can be very helpful to people coping with emotional problems, says Gyauch’s colleague, psychiatric nurse Gayle Keim Levas, R.N. “Held inside, destructive thoughts create a pattern of worry and stress,” she says. “Once you get them down on paper, you can look at them objectively and start to process them.” Levas has personal experience; journaling helped her through breast cancer treatment.

Whether you’re coping with a physical or emotional crisis, grief or just ordinary living, keeping a journal forces you to take time to reflect on your experiences. This helps you put things in perspective and face the future confidently.

Unlike recording private thoughts in a journal, writing a memoir lets you pass on your experiences and values to future generations. It’s a way to keep family history—memories of wartime, say, or Grandpa’s farm—alive. Diane Schrameyer, director of Senior Corps RSVP (Retired Seniors Volunteer Program), conducts memoir-writing workshops. “When someone shares a happy experience, others recall similar memories and the energy level in the whole room goes up,” she says.

Writing about painful times is beneficial, too, as people look back and see that life’s trials made them stronger. That’s a powerful message for their descendants. “Of course, it’s not necessary to tell everything,” Schrameyer says. “You needn’t disclose secrets that might cause pain to yourself or others.”

Tips for Writers

• Dedicate a place for writing. Light a candle or keep a meaningful object nearby.
• Write about what happened, how you felt about it then and how you feel now. Let yourself go—express your deepest emotions, both positive and negative.
• Don’t be concerned about spelling, grammar or chronological order. You can polish it later if you wish.
• Write for at least 15-20 minutes at a sitting. If the words don’t come, draw or make a collage from magazine pictures.
• Use memory triggers when memoir-writing, like “the nicest thing my parents did for me,” or “my first job.” Look at old photographs and write about the people in them.

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