Pen as Magic Wand
When the word “journaling” is hurled at you, do you imagine a tweenage girl balling into her diary fit with a small pink padlock? Prepare to throw all you thought you knew out the window. And while you’re at it, throw your therapy bill out the window too.
Honey, we just found you the most affordable therapist in town. She’s cute, she’s coy, she keeps it 100, and she’s FREE. Mm hm, she’s you. But let’s not be sexist here – this one is for the guys, too. Everyone can benefit from the practice of journaling. Here’s a breakdown of one of the most impactful practices you can bring into your life in order to see massive change: Morning Pages.
It’s a concept from Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way”, in which you set aside a block of time each morning to write 3 pages, long-hand. You read that correctly. Put the MacBook aside & pick up the good ol’ fashioned pen & paper, doll face. This practice is all about getting out of your head, where creativity goes to die. This lets you coax out a part of you that is wildly intuitive, leading you straight to the answers you’ve been seeking externally. In the process you find, define, and refine your VOICE. An integral & often-overlooked element to true fulfillment!
It’s within the depths of these pages that you will find all those thoughts that you have been pushing to the borders of your mind, hoping that they just disappear. You will likely find that the majority of your pages turn into some pathetic saga about your sad life that you can’t seem to escape. Guess what? That’s the voice that’s bouncing around in your head every.single.day. Voice it! Let it loose! Own it or it will own you, my friend. Once you become intimately acquainted with this critic you’ve been carrying around with you, you’ll be able to identify its voice outside the pages and in your daily life. Soon you’ll be thinking, “Damn, is this trash really what I’ve been listening to?” Now you have the POWER. You can choose to listen, or to laugh at it, or even chat & get to know it better.
Within the pages you will find the answers to the questions you’ve had. Ask & suddenly your hand starts racing across the page with a laboriously drawn out but somehow eerily specific course of action. It’s almost like you knew what you had to do all along – because you did. It isn’t until you enter this space, divorced from perfectionism & analysis paralysis, that you can really HEAR what’s been going on in there. The more you listen, the more you are able to refine your voice. Suddenly you know yourself on a whole new level. Suddenly all your fears about doing that big thing you’ve always wanted to do seem to vanish. You feel lighter. Instead of leading life from a place of what’s happened to you in the past, you feel fueled to create your future. You discover just exactly what it is you’ve been needing to say. And no need to put on pants & go to an office to find out. You’re welcome.