I had to laugh as I read my oldest one of my articles the other day. “Mum, can’t you write something cheerier?” I told him, they’re not always like that, but writing things you’ve been through as you reflect can be a part of healing and processing to move forward. I’ve also been asked by others why I post such personal content publicly. It’s all about connection through experience.

Sometimes we need to read or hear others’ experiences to understand our own journey and sometimes we just need to know we are not alone. Whether it’s someone privately messaging me about how something connected with them, or a public comment that leads to a deeper conversation, it all shows me that we are creatures of experience who can form connections through our stories. We are not alone, even if we feel we are sometimes.

There are also times in our life where we don’t even realize we are in a similar situation. I know when I was writing about my separation on a different platform, I had a few people reach out who realized their marriages were in a difficult make or break moment. Many put more effort into saving their relationship and found revitalization in the process.

I am lucky that I have healed from most of my experiences through intense reflection and work. It allows me the ability to write it out for others and hopefully help them through their own processes. And as new things come up, I sit down and write it out to process for myself and connect with others. Most mornings I wake up to notifications of people highlighting what they read in my writing that they connected with or to comments that engage more conversation or build those connections of experience. It’s not just my family and friends reading the articles any more, but strangers who are connecting to what I write, and that in its own sense is a powerful experience of connection.

No matter what it is you read, if you feel a connection to it, let the writer know. It gives them the motivation to keep writing knowing they are able to connect with others through their words. Share a comment about how what they’ve experienced resonated with you. And if you’re a writer debating whether to write it out and hit that publish button, take the chance. Maybe it will be me commenting how much I connected to your experience too. Life isn’t always easy, so connection through experience allows us further healing and keeps us moving forward knowing we aren’t alone in our journey of life.