Within 5 minutes I’d gone from writing ‘feeling a bit lost today’ to ‘I love having clarity!’
It’s funny how, that in my life, the things I’ve resisted the most, have ended up having the greatest meaning to me.
And I don’t mean ‘I don’t like it’ resistance, but full on ‘I’m NOT doing that!!’ type of resistance that might be better classed as rejection.
This was true of both journalling and having a baby. Yes they both may seem a world apart, but in reality both meant becoming intimate and honest with myself – there was nowhere to hide.
But today I want to focus on journalling.
I loathed it soooo much that I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word ‘Journalling’, I referred to it as the ‘J’ word.
Of course I’d heard everyone talking about journalling this, and amazing journalling that… But all I heard was ‘blah, boring, blah, blah, pointless’.
I’d attend courses and participants were expected to write things down, I never did. I’d just daydream and wait for that part to be over. It was like I couldn’t commit anything to paper, at all! Well, maybe my name, but that’s where it stopped.
One day I came across Julia Cameron’s book ‘The Artist’s Way’ – this was another book that I’d been hearing about for years, but had not actually got round to reading.
Somehow, and I have no idea how, I found myself working through it.
Morning Pages
One of the activities in the book, is a process called ‘Morning Pages’, and it’s a process where you just write anything that’s on your mind – it doesn’t have to make sense. It certainly hasn’t got to have punctuation or even be legible, but you just write. I think she recommends four pages.
I call it ablutions for your mind, as for me it’s like having a shower for my mind. I can clear the crap and start the day all fresh and clear.
I never did finish working through the entire book, but I never miss a day of writing my morning pages.
I’ve gone from completely rejecting the process of journalling, to being almost evangelical about it.
I’ve learnt so much about myself.
If I find myself ‘stuck’, I start writing and find the answers.
If I feel lost, I find clarity.
And the inspiration and ideas I have whilst writing are amazing!
If you haven’t tried this technique, or if you’ve stopped, I encourage you to start again or just give it a try for a week.
I discovered that the answers I had been looking for weren’t ‘out there’, I’d had them all along.