Opening Up by James W Pennebaker PhD Chapter Three

This chapter is available to read online. I could just skip jotting down my thoughts and let you read the chapter for yourself. And I am tempted to do that because what I highlighted in this chapter while practical doesn’t lend itself to my usual interjectory comments.

Pennebaker describes some of the research he has done to reinforce his theory that writing is not only emotionally but also physically healing. The chapter goes into some details of the results. In one, the people responded to a follow-up questionnaire. In another, white blood cells were tested. And in another, when working with a group of men who had been laid off suddenly from their jobs, the group that wrote about their situation and how they felt about being laid off a higher percentage were employed when compared with the two other groups.

The chapter concludes with a few questions and Pennebaker’s answers:

What should your writing topic be?
When and where should you write?
What should you do with what you have written?
What if you hate to write—is there a substitute?
What can you expect to feel during and after writing? (40-42)

Honestly, I recommend reading the chapter because it is insightful. But I am going to take this to a very personal level. On page 39 Pennebaker writes: The key, we believe, is the nature of anger. Today my acupuncturist explained that my vertigo is very likely caused by a block in my liver. He says that anger is associated with the liver. An overactive liver would suggest that I have anger problems in that I am always angry, always raging, always expressing my fury. That my liver is blocked suggests the opposite. I am holding onto my anger, storing it in my body. And if anger can keep some unemployed men from finding new jobs it could be that my anger is keeping me from being able to stand.

I thought about this a lot today. How will I dig into my anger? Where will I start? I have some ideas that I will begin to incorporate in my journaling. I plan on doing a timed writing beginning with the words I am angry because . . . and I am angry with . . . and I feel angry when . . . . In addition to these, I will also write unsent letters to people towards whom I feel angry. I can think of one person immediately. And Rob seems to think that there is something that triggered my vertigo because I was worried about a friend.

I also intend on reading a book I have on anger, listen to some audio cds on forgiveness, and spend time meditating. I have a feeling that I am about to be going into some dark places. That’s okay. I’ve done this before and I know how to find my way back to the light. I’m just grateful I don’t have to do this alone. And the truth is, I don’t know where this will take me. I am definitely moving blind, feeling my way, trusting my experience to be enlightening in the end. Yes, I confess, I am a little scared.

To read the chapter for yourself, go here: http://www.guilford.com/excerpts/pennebak.pdf