Tag: healing

Diaries a lens for eating disorder memoir

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From eating disorder shame to ‘an open book’  A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic was the gift of time to embark on the incredible journey of writing my memoir. A project of this magnitude always seemed too daunting but as soon as I began pouring through my old diaries,...

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Life Writing Look for me in a fairy tale

Look for me in a fairy tale

Fairy tales, like poetry, are an art form that can enable the expression of repressed feelings. A revelation in sourcing diary excerpts for The Diary Healer was the popularity of poetry as a form of narrative expression in the recovery process. Fairy tales, through the creative use of metaphors, also...

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Life Writing Writing our way through 2021

Writing our way through 2021

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I hope you have a new diary ready for 2021. I have three. I chose one, and two are gifts. 2021 is shaping up to be my most prolific diary-writing year yet! I look forward to becoming acquainted with these diaries. I know they will each develop into a loyal,...

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Eating Disorders Finding that one person: the key to hope and inspiration

Finding that one person: the key to hope and inspiration

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You could call it a case of accidental fate! That’s the best way I can describe how I stumbled across the name ‘June Alexander’ in an online search in 2018. I was having just another average day, my mind filled with an endless influx of eating disorder (ED) thoughts: “What...

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Dear Diary Benefits and risks in writing and publicly sharing your eating disorder story

Benefits and risks in writing and publicly sharing your eating disorder story

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Choosing when to write your eating disorder story with a view to sharing it with the world, requires careful consideration. Writing about your experience, with or without a diary, requires threads and themes to be picked up and woven into an account that will appeal to and connect with readers....

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Eating Disorders Writing allowed me to turn my recovery into an art

Writing allowed me to turn my recovery into an art

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His voice curled around my waistline And tickled every toe, Breathing out security from his lips and his nose. My knight in shining armor, My king upon his throne. My medicine     My beekeeper          My lover…                  ...

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Eating Disorders An eating disorder relapse in mid-life is an opportunity for self-growth

An eating disorder relapse in mid-life is an opportunity for self-growth

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In my mid-50s, I am still working on an important task, figuring out who I am without my eating disorder…I am excited, and ready! I have learned directly that recovery from an eating disorder is not all sunshine and rainbows. Ideally, in recovery one learns to use healthy coping skills...

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When disaster re-ignites past trauma, reach out

Trauma comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes the cause is visible and sometimes it is not. The bushfires blazing over much of eastern Australia, including my beloved childhood region of East Gippsland, are sparking trauma for many people. The losses mount. Lives lost. Possessions lost. Livelihoods lost. Essential services...

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Life Writing Being true to yourself and others through writing

Being true to yourself and others through writing

I think it’s time my past was made public. I’ve always felt ashamed of it, I suppose, though I realize now I shouldn’t feel this way. I haven’t done anything wrong; I’ve just had an illness. From my memoir A Girl Called Tim Whether you are seven or 70, writing...

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Life Writing When disaster re-ignites past trauma, reach out

When disaster re-ignites past trauma, reach out

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Trauma comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes the cause is visible and sometimes it is not. The bushfires blazing over much of eastern Australia, including my beloved childhood region of East Gippsland, are sparking trauma for many people. The losses mount. Lives lost. Possessions lost. Livelihoods lost. Essential services...

Continue reading