The joy of freewriting, purely from the inner self

When I hear about freewriting, it feels like …

… I’m finally allowed to let go and say whatever comes to me. For most of my life, I’ve felt like I have lived in some kind of jail, an invisible prison of other people’s expectations, demands, rules, emotions – things that I’m supposed to do or not do — but when I’m freewriting, I’m writing purely from myself. I feel free.What does this freedom feel like?

Like a bird in the sky, like a leaf in the wind, like a ripple on the lake at dawn, like the first sign of life, the first heartbeat of a baby in a mother’s womb, like the first word my son spoke, the first time I saw my daughter’s mass of black hair, wet and messy in birth…. freewriting is like witnessing the beginning of a whole new life… 

(I did this freewriting along with my ENG 102 students. Rules of freewriting: Write down the prompt and keep going – don’t stop – don’t think – don’t correct –  and most of all – don’t  judge or be afraid. The words come out of your pen, not yourself.)

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