My Body My Murti - Portrait of the Artist Neelam Sundaram as Domesticated - Photographer Nate Dale August 2018
Expressive Writing Prompt on Family Archetypes and Dramas
Describe what family dramas are (re)played again and again over many years or generations. A family drama is a pattern or repetition of a psychological experience that replicates in multiple family systems across generations or within connected family systems. Examples of family dramas include the parenting dynamic of the absent father and the over nurturing mother; the interplay of a narcissistic parent and codependent parent; the replication of sibling rivalries between the youngest and middle child; the intergenerational transmission of disempowered coping strategies from older generations to younger generations, such as the use of alcohol, food, money, sex, and gambling.
Time Required
20 minutes per day for four days in a row
4 Steps of Expressive Writing
1. Make a four day commitment to yourself.
2. Choose a time of day and location of your home where you will write for 20 minutes a day.
3. You can write with a pen on paper, typing on a cell phone or computer, or you can pretend to write using your finger. All of these approaches work effectively, according to the research on expressive writing - even pretend writing with your finger.
4. Write freely your deepest feelings and thoughts about your emotional experiences about your life mission and dharma. Write in stream-of-consciousness and continuously for 20 minutes.
Helpful Guidelines
Begin with an empowering declaration "I free myself to express myself today" or "I love myself and I give myself this protected time to let my feelings flow out freely"
Don’t worry about spelling or grammar as you write.
Express yourself freely without holding back, draw or doodle as well if it helps you.
Feel free to pause when you need rest and breathe in and out deeply, consciously.
Free yourself from self-judgments, self-criticism, and the nit picky rules of writing.