Offloading Writing Practice

Feeling good about the practice of writing down three fears or negative thoughts that bother me before going to bed. The items are strange and unrealistic, springing from my radiant mind at night, and then I forget about them. Honestly, I can’t recall what any of them were while I’m writing this entry. They’re stored in notebooks and in a brainstorming app online, so I can review them later.

Putting them on paper neutralizes them for my mind; they no longer take up so much space up there. Some of these thoughts could perhaps be classified as delusions or paranoia. The point is to dust them off and then momentarily examine my outlandish fears. The process is called “off‑loading,” a term I learned from a healthcare website.

At night, the process works best with ink on paper, and it has become part of my bedtime routine: clean up, take nighttime medication, light a candle by my writing area, write an off‑loading list of three negatives bothering me, then write three gratitude items. After that, I sit with the voice of Puddicombe for ten minutes of meditation, reset the A.P.A.P. breathing‑support device, and usually fall asleep within ten minutes.

Since I favor handwriting, it might be better to write those items with digital ink. Digital ink is more secure, which matters because I live with a housemate; if he saw any of my negative lists, he might become alarmed. Digital ink can also be easily erased if the entries serve no purpose.

I don’t wish to revisit the fears I’ve written down in the off‑loading list, as doing so would likely make me feel negative and sad. However, reviewing them could reveal patterns that I can address with my psychologist.