How These 4 Types of Creative Writing May Help You Heal from Loss

Many would agree that living a meaningful life has much to do with the relationships we build with others. Family, friends, and even that friendly neighbour all encircle us with a web of connections that influence our behaviour, values, and identity. It is no surprise, then, that the passing of someone near and dear hits us in the very core of our being. This is a vulnerable time in anyone’s life and sometimes the best way to pick up the pieces is to describe them with words. Poems, eulogies, and other forms of creative writing offer us not only a chance to honour our beloved but experience healing within ourselves too.

Often, losing someone close leaves us with a gaping hole we cannot fathom how to fill – after all, there is no prescribed way to mourn. Expressing this deep well of emotions in written form allows us to bounce our thoughts off a canvas and sometimes, what reflects back tells us a lot about ourselves. The action of writing is not only cathartic but lets us direct our energy into creating beauty and hope where only sorrow abides. Below we explore how these four types of creative writing may cultivate a creative environment in which healing can take place:

1. Creation A Eulogy. A eulogy is typically written for – and read aloud at – a funeral as a tribute but you are free to write one any time you wish. If you have lost someone, you can explore their life and your relationship with them through a personal eulogy. Even those facing the ache of a loss that occurred many years ago might find writing a eulogy a beneficial way to remember someone special.


2. Pen A Letter. The grieving process is sometimes even more difficult when so many words are left unsaid. Writing a letter to the one to whom you bid farewell allows you a space to communicate anything you still feel you need to tell them. This therapeutic practice offers closure and will help you to feel more connected to their memory.


3. Start Journaling. Whether we keep tabs on it or not, most of us have an inner dialogue that runs throughout the day. Writing in a journal or diary is a way to become aware of this dialogue and to analyse what we are thinking. While grieving, you may face mental-health struggles such as depression and anxiety and journaling these experiences could help you to process your emotions.


4. Write Poems. Poems are perhaps our favourite on this list, as they can act as eulogies, letters, and diary entries. Whether you prefer the spontaneity behind free-verse poems or meticulously crafted sonnets, you are free to explore your own poems as well as the work of others. Poetry does a fantastic job of summing up an unspoken, ethereal feeling and tethering it to something concrete. It lifts the veil on the vague gnawing of dark emotions and lets us know that we are never alone in an experience that is so quintessentially human.

If you are keen to explore evocative poems on life, death, and everything in between, feel free to visit our poem library.