My relaxation activities of choice are playing guitar /piano, knitting, and mindfulness meditation, oh and cooking that's not work cooking. I guess for me it's mostly about creativity, things that engage the mind enough to block out stressful thoughts and it helps me to keep my hands busy. Music stuff helps me deal with emotions to some extent, gives them an outlet, your ideas of writing/poetry might work in a similar way.
It will be interesting to hear what others do and how you get on with things you try. X