Not long after arriving here, I was contacted by a friend in Tokyo who had been asked if she knew anyone who could write a piece for the 'in-house' magazine.
She thought of me, which was very flattering, and sent me contact details. A bit of correspondence ensued and I agreed to write the article.
I was given the luxury of writing 1,000 words with a deadline of early September. To me, this was heaven, as my work normally confined me to a series of articles of between 150 and 450 words each month. And as you may have noticed, this word count discipline does not come naturally to me.
The subject was my experiences during the earthquake in Japan on March 11th 2011. There's nothing like writing about what you know to get the old, jaded brain working.
It was hard to concentrate on my increasingly mundane, paying work while I mulled over what I was going to say. But those deadlines came first so I tried to push it to the back of my mind and got on with writing those articles, settling into our new German life, and visiting the UK for the summer.
However, I found myself drifting more and more towards thinking and pondering over those traumatic final weeks in Japan. Was it because I was on holiday? Maybe it was because I was in the UK for the first time since 2009 - a particularly stressful year which continues to reverberate. Certain confrontations occurred which have not been resolved and were brought into sharp review while over there. Lots of other unfixable issues were also playing on my mind.
During the days following the quake my Japanory blog was in great demand from various UK media and at one point I ended up doing a BBC radio interview. While I was on air, we experienced a large aftershock and, not realising I was still being recorded, talked soothingly to Rhiannon. The interviewer remarked on how calm and reassuring I was, and I commented, only half-jokingly, that yes, I appeared calm as I had to look after my girl, but I fully expected to have a nervous breakdown at some point in the coming months. It certainly felt like one was impending.
I know I suffer from delayed shock from experiences during certain London bombings.
So I think the timing of this article request was very useful for me. When the summer holidays were over, I forced myself to re-read my Japanory entries as research. It was emotional and distressing. It was strange reading my thoughts and feelings during this chaotic time from the safety of a non-vibrating European country. Many things had been forgotten. If you do read Japanory, you will see there was an awful lot to write about. I also read other people's accounts of the time in case I'd got any facts and figures wrong.
Perhaps it would help me to write it all down again? Or would I be reliving it all over?
Writing the 1,000 words didn't take me long at all. It takes me longer to write a 200 word piece. But that's because the subject matter was very close to my heart. And close it was.
My heart hurt for those lost in the tsunami; my heart hurt for those who had lost loved ones; my heart hurt for all those terrified people and animals left behind; my heart hurt because I couldn't be there to help out; my heart hurt because I was no longer in my beloved Japan.
Many tears were shed in the writing of the article. But they proved to be therapeutic. However much pain went into the creation of the piece, the outcome was good for me.
After submitting it, the editor got in touch to ask if I had any photos of the devastation. I didn't; only pictures of the wreckage in our home.
But I knew some girls that did. So I contacted them with hours before the print deadline. They came up absolute trumps and I will be forever indebted to Dee and Tracey at 37 Frames Photography in Tokyo for saving the day, and the front cover, with one of their fabulous photos.
These fabulous and brilliant ladies went above and beyond during the aftermath. I insist you grab a cuppa and a big box of tissues and read their moving account of their trips to Tohoku.
I received a copy of the magazine this week. My double page article was second in the layout and had been given the title "The Day the World Turned Upside Down".
I looked at the pictures, I don't need to read the words again. They are engraved in my soul forever.
So yes, writing IS cathartic. Don't back away from the initial pain you may encounter as it is worth it in the end.