writing and creativity

Why is it that a simple channel change like telling a story about a suffering person helps these people so much? From the process viewpoint the reason is simple. They feel better because they have switched identities. They are no longer identified as sufferers, but have become fair observers, creators, tellers of a story. The earlier suffering was

What this person sees in a painting is not just a picture, but a “thought machine” that includes the painter’s emotions, hopes, and ideas—as well as the spirit of the culture and the historical period in which he lived.

"To do the work, we need to rest, to read, to reconnect. It is the invisible labor that makes creative life possible."