How do you start your day? Are you ready to take it on with vigor and clarity, or are you mired in a barrage of thoughts that sidetrack you from your task at hand or bigger vision? If the latter rings true, here’s a routine that allows you to easily access your most creative, clear-headed self.
Morning Mind = Malleable Mind
During that dim time at dawn before you are fully awake, you have a special window into your unconscious mind. Working with that mysterious and powerful part of your mind can help you achieve deep transformation in your life. One tool to put on this path is a daily journaling exercise called Morning Pages.
An idea founded by Julia Cameron in her bestselling creativity guide, The Artist’s Way, and adopted by millions around the world, this simple technique involves free writing for three pages first thing in the morning. Here’s how she explains it: “…what [Morning Pages] do is clear your mind. It’s as though have taken a little Dustbuster and you go poking it into all the corners of your consciousness and you come up with what you put on the page.”
How It’s Done
Keeping your journal by your bed will help you get in the habit of reaching for it while you are still in a partial sleep state. Commit to writing three full pages, longhand. It doesn’t matter what you write, and it’s perfectly fine if what comes out is wacky, fragmented, or nonsensical.
However, if you’re someone who prefers structure, here’s a writing sequence to help you get into better harmony with your unconscious mind:
- Dreams – These are messages from your unconscious mind; try to recall your dreams and recount them in as much detail as possible. If you don’t remember your dreams or didn’t have any, don’t belabor it; simply move on.
- Gratitude – Jot down all that you are thankful for from the previous day.
- Stream of consciousness – Write anything that comes to mind, however ugly, petty, or mundane. What comes up may surprise you, but merely observe it without judgment. Remain uncensored and get it all out; just let it pass from your mind to the page. Don’t worry about anyone else reading it. This is a private journal, for your eyes only.
- Intentions – Once you’ve cleared out the proverbial cobwebs, set a deep intention for your day.
Some mornings you may find that you come up blank, but that’s fine. Simply repeat, “I don’t know what to write,” or some other similar phrase over and over again. But make sure to always set your daily intention.
Clarity Revealed
As you go about the habit of writing you will uncover unconscious thoughts you never knew you had before. As these thoughts come out, you may start to gain a very high degree of clarity, even helping you solve problems that have been nagging at you for quite some time.
By dedicating time to your morning pages you give yourself a valuable gift of self-care—one that allows you to shine a light on your inner world and access the creative power within.
Yes, I feel your resistance!
Your rational mind might be telling you to run; that this writing woo woo cr*p won’t work and don’t waste your time.
When I was at my lowest in 2009, I dedicated myself to writing these 3 pages everyday. Some bad stuff came out.
To be honest, I don’t know if I would be around to share this blog post with you today. I was in a really dark place. I had such intense self-hate.
And, like any de-cluttering job; the room tends to look worse before it looks better.
You may have some really uncomfortable things come out on that paper; welcome them because that means once they are on paper they can be released.
Now you have room for all the good stuff; all you have to do is listen and write down what you hear.
When the good stuff comes, don’t be surprised if you see your handwriting change a bit.
For me, that is just God talking through my pen and sharing onto my paper.
Even though I know the power of morning pages, I have not practiced it in years.
So, during my 2 week sabbatical at Hilton Head Health Institute; I am committing to poking into the dark corners of my unconscious mind every morning and I am going to share the highlights with you right here.
I challenge you to perform this morning page ritual for 3 days.
Open your mind and heart for only 3 days.
Then, share you insights right here.
I Treasure You!
[…] During lunch, I sat with 3 of my super-fabulous girlfriends and I finally felt the courage to share what God had been sharing with me in my morning pages. […]
Maureen,
I appreciated and related to your “I Thought I was Special and then God Winked” article on the Tapestry Network. I’ve gone through some major self-doubt and low times in recent years too. I’m always so thankful to have good friends who pray for me and re-connect me to Our Creator – reminding me “He knows the plans He has for me” and they are better than I can ever imagine! God bless you and your journey! And, fyi, I’ve always heard great things about you and how much you have inspired and helped others!
Oh Sharon; thank you for sharing this and stopping by; I hope to see you soon!!