Reader Response Draft 1

Reader’s Response

In the article “Writing Your Way to Happiness”, Parker-Pope (2015) claims that expressive writing can make one happier. Expressive writing is both physically and mentally beneficial. The writer mentions that writing and rewriting your own stories “can lead to behavioral changes” and it can help change our views of ourselves. Studies conducted in America has shown that students who edited their own narrative about college, as compared to those who did not, turned out to be more successful in their academics. Writing enables us to reconstruct and redefine our problems which enables us to face our problems, leading to a “life course correction”. Writing can help a person recognize what is more important to them.

The author cited Pennebaker’s idea of expressive writing being a life course correction which he believes will lead us to becoming happier. The health benefits from expressive writing are able to correct our lifestyle and life course which will make us happier people. The health benefits from expressive writing can prolong our life, enabling us to spend more quality time with our loved ones. Expressive writing changes our perspective on life and it helps us face and solve problems which has been troubling us.

Expressive writing can provide us with health benefits. It is beneficial especially to those who are suffering from anxiety related sickness like asthma.  Experiments has shown that asthma patients who wrote daily about their experiences got better and it prevented their conditions from deteriorating. Expressive writing also helps to reduce stress, as shown in a research on HIV- related anxiety. “By writing, you put some structure and organization to those anxious feelings. It helps you to get past them.” (Pennebaker, 2002). These health benefits can help improve their medical conditions, which will increase their comfort in their lives. They would not have to suffer as much as they did in the past and this will definitely make them happier. Slowly, their life course will be corrected as their conditions will improve. Parker- Pope has also stated that expressive writing can improve mood disorder. This helps to improve our well- being and it corrects our life course as we are no longer restricted by disorders. We have new potential from having better memory. Expressive writing brings about health benefits which improves and corrects our life which enables us to become happier as we are able to enjoy more quality time with our loved ones.

Expressive writing makes us face our problems. Writing down our problems and conflicts enables us to redefine and reconstruct them. Instead of the endless regurgitating of the problem in your head, writing it down allows us to accurately identify the problem at hand. Moreover, it allows us to have sufficient time to stop and think about how the issue has broader implications, highlighting the importance of solving the problems to prevent any bad things to happen. Having a problem causes many worries and sufferings psychologically for a person. To cultivate this habit of facing your problems readily will certainly change your life course. It can help people correct the fear and problem they have been facing for a long time. Solving these long term issues allow them to take a different course in life, freeing them from the worries they had. These people will no longer be restricted like how they were in the past.

Expressive writing can change our perspective in life. Expressive writing allows us to write and re-write our life experiences. When we repeatedly write about our lives, we are able to have a more thorough thinking of the events or experiences. We can constantly review our viewpoint on the matter and then write another detailed, more consistent account of the matter. When using words like because, realize and understand, it makes the cause and effect more obvious, allowing us to identify what we did right and wrong. All this will help us correct our life course or even improve it. As stated by Parker- Pope in her article, research done in America has proven the above. Expressive writing makes us more optimistic as we can solve our problems and our life is always changing because we “write” who we are. We do not need to be stuck in the social construct that has existed since the past. This will definitely change people’s life course as they will start to have a more positive outlook in life. They will become happier as they will believe that things will turn out well. As stated widely, “Optimism is a key ingredient to happiness”

In conclusion, expressive writing allows us to redefine and reconstruct our identity, our problems and our experiences. We are able to look at matters more clearly and we have more time to think and ponder. We are able to choose properly what is important to our life course and what type of lessons we have to learn so that the same mistake will not be made again. Expressive writing allows us to be more optimistic and helps us solve our problem. It alters our way of life, making us happier people.