Therapeutic Blogging

Scientific American has an article about blogging becoming a focus on study.

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

I think better when I'm writing. I am better able to clarify my thoughts and feelings when I try to express them "on paper" (actually, almost all of my writing is down on my computer, but it doesn't sound right to say I'm expressing my thoughts "in pixels," does it?) than at just about any other time. I've had times when I didn't know what I thought about something until I sat down and spent some time trying to write about it. The way that writing in general, and also of blogging, has been a form of self-medication for me is in self-discovery. I don't know about the physiological benefits, but I do understand myself better from my writing.

Maybe it's time to give playwriting another crack. Of all of the creative writing I did in college, playwriting was the most satisfying. I've had a few premises in the back of my mind the past couple of years, but never worked on them. None of those ideas interest me much anymore, but I think I'll be on the lookout for the kernel of a story that could be told on stage.