Once our Survival and Security—Anger,
Fear, Anxiety, Fantasies—are manageable, we can turn our attention to Writing
for Power. Survival: I rant about the
driver who rear-ended me—a one-way diatribe; and obsess over my recovery fears. Security: I express my anxiety and ruminate about my options for
response—a fantasy of possibilities. Power: I Plan and Act.
The Power stage of the Pyramid of needs (see
the meme below) parallels the Solar Plexus, a complex center of nerves
in the middle of the human body, often depicted as a sun. The sun is the source of all life on earth. To
write from a place of Power is to transform Desire into Action.
I must admit, much of my journaling
is from this center. Yes, I rant and obsess for
Survival. Yes, I ruminate for Security. But Writing for Power goes beyond writing for
Security, where I’m still wobbling around in Anxiety and Fantasy
scenarios. When I write for Power, I
write for Action. In my Power journal entries, I rehearse what I have
accomplished the day before. I create my
Wish List for the day. (I call it “Wish
List” because “To Do” sounds too much like making a to-do, a fuss.) I project
plans for the future. This is where I
strategize steps I will take, when, where, and with whom. This is a comfort zone for me. But it has its limits.
Writing from the Power center is a
relief from Anger, Fear, Anxiety, and Manipulation. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, I can’t
change other people. I can only change
myself. But to live in the Power center can
turn me into a Human-Doing, instead of a Human-Being. Power-hungry bosses, politicians, teachers,
parents, retailers, et al, can lose sight of the humanity of others in their
drive toward power. Getting stuck in
writing for power, I may lose sight of my feelings and experience. I can turn myself into a robot in service to
the boss I’ve created out of my schedules and plans. Too much action can undermine what I want to
achieve.
In the case of the rear-ending
accident, I strategized in my journal about how to recover my health, secure
time off from work, manage insurance claims. But in order to fully heal, I have to allow
myself to Write for Security—to acknowledge my vulnerabilities and anxieties. Writing for Security tempers Writing for
Power, as does Writing for Love, the next level up. I need to set limits—over-Doing
can, to use an auto image, backfire.
And, honestly, rehearsing yesterday’s
actions and planning for tomorrow’s can get dull. I find myself getting repetitious. I drone. I might regress to writing for
Survival if my plans and actions are thwarted. There’s just so much I can say,
when the point is action.
For now, search through your
journals for examples of writing for power.
How much of your journaling is dominated by it? If you feel comfortable, share some of these
entries in your reply.
If you do not write for power,
write some entries with that purpose in mind.
Report to us on your experience.
© Susanna Rich, 2020
Works
Cited:
Because I Can Teach:
Journal for Authenticity Series:
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