Being Challenged

One of the disadvantages of writing for yourself is that it is a bit of an echo-chamber. And if you are more prone to over-confidence than diffidence like I am, it is easy to fall in love with you words and feel like you are full of sagely wisdom. I saw my counselor today and she challenged my beliefs about the way I was using writing. What I thought was a form of therapeutic writing was, in fact, plain old venting which might bring some relief, but was unlikely to aid in personal growth. I had felt quite smart and innovative when I had hit upon that particular form of writing, so that was a chastening moment. But, that is one of the purposes of counselling--to have your beliefs about yourself challenged, especially those that come in the way of you being the best possible version of yourself. Most people resist being challenged on their beliefs about themselves, and that is not a wholly bad thing. It keeps us from being quivering heaps of perpetual self-doubt. Only people whose intelligence and wisdom we respect can challenge us without triggering our defense mechanisms. The meeting with my counselor was intense, and I will be chewing over the stuff that came up for weeks or even months to come.