Morning pages #100sharesproject 32/100

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~Aristotle

Friday 20 May 2016

32/100

I am often asked questions about how I journal. The topics range from subject matter

[What do you write about?] to technique [How did you make that page?]   I also get a lot of questions around how much time I spend journaling each day.   I hesitate to answer with a ton of detail, because at the end of the day, I don’t believe that there is a right or wrong way to keep a journal.

How you journal depends on what you value. 

In my journals, I place high value on authenticity, healing & beauty.  Thus, my pages aren’t always a finished artistic product; they’re raw and part of my soul tending.  However, because it matters to me that my pages look good, I often find myself in a double bind.  The truth is that sometimes pages aren’t especially pretty because of learning curve, human error or uncomfortable subject matter.  So, I end up with a page that isn’t beautiful, but is born out of where I am.  I am learning to be okay with tension & paradox in my pages.

DSC_3520-2In analyzing my journaling, I have discovered that Beauty {borderline perfectionism?} has formed many of my habits {& often sabotages forward motion. More on that topic another day…}  Truth be told, the only true daily habit that I have is that I write in a journal every morning.  In Julia Cameron’s book,”The Artist’s Way”, there is a method for unblocking and processing called Morning Pages.  In this method, you write 3 long hand pages every morning and put them in an envelope and never look at them again.  In the beginning I wrote pages exactly as instructed, but as I unblocked and got honest, the discoveries were too numerous to file away or discard.  As angst moves out of the way, themes and global ideas emerge; important words and specific details rise to the top.

DSC_3519-1Over the years, I’ve modified my Morning Page usage.  I still write 3 pages {or some mornings for 30 min. straight.}  But I have adjusted slightly in order to catch the important.  I start out with a space for a “To Do” list.  I started adding the list to the actual pages because I find it very distracting to flip over to my calendar when I remember an action item.  Instead, I keep a running list in my journal and then transfer tasks to my working To Do list after writing.   It may seem inefficient to write twice, but for me it is more important to keep the flow going and switching over to other books or the computer was distracting or even worse, causing stalls.

I keep everything in one journal.  However, if I have a lot of words to work through, I use inexpensive composition notebooks.  Psychologically, there is a tremendous amount of freedom in writing without worrying about “messing up the pretty book”.  I start to obsess about perfection and method in my “real art journals” and, like with To-Do-list-distractions, perfectionism halts the creative process.   By not worrying about the journal or the content, my morning books are open & unfiltered.  It’s where I have found my true voice and freedom.

Using a journal as a container for ideas and truth telling is my number one practical tool for personal growth.

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Feel free to share your favorite journal habits in the comment section.  It’s always great to hear what is working for you.

BE in your life,

Betsy

By |2016-10-19T14:20:24-04:00May 20th, 2016|Uncategorized|8 Comments

Behind the pages: Morning pages, paint and BIG thinking

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