What does this torrent get you?

I think a lot of us have this image of a writer in this life filled with turmoil and emotional upheaval. I think we see them at their emotional worst, shutting out the world with their minds, walking upstairs to their typewriter and pounding away at the keys to make it all go away. I wonder if that’s how it really works for anyone?

My life has been highs and lows, highs and lows, again and again, over the last couple months. Every now and then, when I really feel like I’ve managed to get my own soul caught in the largest, hardest turning gears of my heart, I’ve grabbed a notebook, hit a coffeeshop and torn through pages like a cut-throat pre-med at midterms.

When I do do that, though, it mostly comes out like a long journal entry rather than anything I really think I can do something with. (I know, I know… no writing is wasted). That said, most of the time, when life has really cut into me, rather than do anything with it I go into a sort of shock and go to sleep.

So I wonder: are those moments of internal sound and fury creative opportunities or is that just a myth?