Every week I share some of the things that have inspired me online recently. Please feel free to add any of the things that have inspired you in the comments!
A really cool interview with journaler Dawn Herring
Mel asks the big questions about creativity and work
Found this online course and thinking about taking it to help me launch my online creative business
Can’t wait until I have some time to explore this amazing art journal class
Today is the 25th day of the 100 Days Project. I’m a quarter of the way through the project, and I want to reflect on how it’s going.
I know I’m probably not supposed to say that, but in the interest of being authentic and vulnerable, I should be honest.
I’m actually really enjoying the challenge of coming up with new topics and things to post. I’m enjoying the daily journaling and creativity, the daily commitment. I’m enjoying getting comments and support from readers and other bloggers – that has been such a huge pleasure.
This is the first time I have blogged this consistently.
But some days I am tired. I work as a teacher which requires a great deal of energy. It is especially difficult at the moment because I have moved to a new school which is further away – so I have to get up extra early if I want to journal before work. That is fine, but then it means that I have little energy in the evenings to blog, or do any other creative work, such as my art journal, or poetry.
Oh, and my best friend and I are planning our own online business, which takes a lot of time and energy too! But it’s the good kind.
So what does this mean for my blogging? Nothing much. I’ve thought about stopping the 100 Days Project but in truth I don’t want to. I enjoy the challenge. I like being committed to something. I like having to share my thoughts and my creative practice regularly. I think if you want to achieve something creative, particularly writing or art, doing it every day is important.
Can I keep going for another 75 days? I don’t see why not. When I read about amazing inspiring people like Lisa Sonora’s 1008 paintings project I am just blown away. It makes me laugh about my 25 days of blogging.
Lisa says throughout the course of the project she dealt with questions such as:
These are things I should explore in my own journal. If I’m feeling like I want to give up, why is that?
Susannah Conway has said that every week she worries she has run out of good blogging material. Anne Lamott says that she often worries she has run out of ideas. So I guess the mild panic I feel each day about what to blog about is only normal.
I like the fact that it keeps me on my toes. The discomfort and challenge of blogging every day is good for me as a writer and artist. It keeps me pushing forward towards a goal, even when it feels a little uncomfortable.
When you’re pushing for something you really want and it doesn’t seem to be happening as quickly as you’d like, it’s easy to lose faith. It’s easy to start doubting yourself and your dreams.
But, you just have to remind yourself to have faith.
When I start to feel doubt creeping in, I write myself little reminders in my journal.
I find writing things like ‘have faith’ and ‘trust the process’ work as great reminders to myself.
If you’re feeling doubtful about your dreams or goals, try writing affirmations to yourself in your journal. It always works to get me back on track.
Today, take some time to look around you. Notice the beauty in the most ordinary things. Sometimes we can get so busy running from one thing to the next, or thinking about what is coming to us in the future, that we forget to notice the beauty around us now.
Some of the beauty I noticed today:
There are many things I hope to achieve in the (near) future, but I also aim to remind myself of the beauty around me in my life right now.
Look for beautiful and ordinary moments in your day. Write your own list in your journal.
Some days I am more pulled to the page than others. Today was one of those days.
When I say pulled to the page, I mean I want to journal – not just when I sit down to do it, but all day. I think about journaling; I want to pick up my journal and just write. Usually I can’t because I’m at work.
For some reason today I kept wanting to sit down with a cup of coffee and my journal, even though I had journaled this morning.
When you establish a regular journaling practice you come to rely on your journal to guide you and help you each day. I’ve come to learn that when I feel like I want to journal more than I normally do, there is usually a reason. It could be:
It can be especially hard if I am feeling pulled to journal but I can’t. I feel a bit out of sorts, almost like I’m living two lives: my public life, where I go to work and am professional; and then my private life where I just want to turn inwards and listen to what my heart wants.
The first thing I did when I got home was pull out the washi tape and stamps, decorate a journal page and write.
It made me feel so much better. Now I just need to listen to the little voice inside and see where it guides me.
Do you ever have days where you feel like you just want time alone to journal?
Today I really don’t feel like being creative.
I’m tired. I started a new job this week and have to get up very early to get there before the traffic starts in order to avoid a long commute. It was pitch black when I left for work this morning.
I already get up early to journal, so an earlier start with the new job is tough. It will take me a while to adapt to this.
So tonight when I got home, I had a hot shower, made myself a hot water bottle (it’s winter here!) and climbed into bed.
As much as I love being creative and using my time after work to do pages in my art journal, or create found poetry, or do any number of the ‘productive’ things that bring me joy – today I’m just too tired.
And that’s ok, too.
I think to myself, what would I say to a friend who told me that she was tired from starting a new job? I would say:
Often I think we pride ourselves on keeping busy – people rant about all the things they have to do as if to show how important they are because they are so busy. We associate busyness with importance, with meaning.
But I think there is as much joy to be found in being gentle with ourselves, in resting, as there is with being productive.
It is in the quiet time, the time between the rushing and the doing, that we nurture ourselves. By choosing a book and a cup of tea curled up in bed instead of my art journal and paints tonight, I am listening to my body and giving it what it needs. I am refilling the well of creativity inside, so that I can be productive and creative another time.
Take time out to rest and nurture yourself this week.
In 1949 at age seventeen, Sylvia Plath wrote in her diary:
Somehow I have to keep and hold the rapture of being seventeen. Every day is so precious I feel infinitely sad at the thought of all this time melting farther and farther away from me as I grow older. Now, now is the perfect time of my life.
So often we are focused on what we want in the future, 
what we hope to gain or achieve: a promotion, losing weight, getting a new car, house or spouse…
I once described to a friend how things were going well for me at that point in my life. I said, ‘it’s all working out perfectly’, to which she replied, ‘how could it be anything but?’ She was suggesting that there is a perfection to the universe and the way things are in each moment, even if they are not as we intend them.
There’s this line in the last episode of The Office where Andy says, ‘I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.’ Even if where you are right now is not exactly where you want to be, there will most likely come a time when you look back fondly on something that you have right now.
In your journal, note down all the wonderful things about your life right now. Regardless of what you hope to achieve in the future (and those are, of course, still good things to hope for!), try to really hone in on what it is that you like about your life now. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant it may be, whatever you can think of about your life right now that makes you smile.
You could write this in list format, as a mind map, or just stream-of-consciousness. Use different coloured pens if that takes your fancy.
If you are visually inclined you may wish to create a page in an art journal or a collage of photographs, or words/images from magazines.
Here’s a few of the things I came up with – What I love about my life right now:
Happy journaling!
The morning pages are what Julia Cameron describes as ‘a pivotal tool in creative recovery’ in her book The Artist’s Way. She explains the morning pages as ‘three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness’ and also as a ‘brain dump’. I prefer the definition ‘brain dump’.
She notes that they are not supposed to sound smart, or have any particular purpose or direction except to empty your mind of all the chatter and nonsense in there. Just basically write down whatever comes to mind and keep your hand moving.
I do a sort of version of the morning pages. I say a sort of version because I don’t strictly follow the rule of keeping your hand moving at all times. I often pause to think or reflect, ponder, reconsider, then keep writing. Some days I write two pages, some days six. This is what works best for me.
Often I am repetitive, complaining about something for days on end, or I’m listing the things I’m grateful for, or why I’m happy. It can be as simple as moaning about the things I have to do that day that I would rather avoid, or as profound as stumbling upon some sudden insight about myself. Sometimes I reflect on dreams I’ve had, or on what the day may have in store. Sometimes I start talking about one thing and end up somewhere else altogether.
Regardless, I show up each morning, first thing (after making a cup of coffee, of course) and write whatever is on my mind, for an allotted amount of time (30-45 minutes) rather than three pages.
You should write for whatever amount of time works for you – you might find that 10 minutes is enough, or that you need an hour. It may be different from day to day. Be flexible as you need. I think it’s important to respect how we are feeling at the time, rather than striving for some arbitrary time/page goal.
There are a few tricks you can use if you are struggling to get started, if you feel the words just aren’t flowing:
Hopefully that gives you a little something to get started! I would love to hear from anyone who has tried morning pages before. Now, get writing!
Doing something every day can be hard. Especially if you are an all-or-nothing, black and white thinker, like me. There’s too much pressure not to ‘mess up’.
But when I started journaling every day, things felt different. I wanted to do it, and I missed it if I didn’t.
I used to only journal when I was upset aboutsomething, or when I felt some sudden and random inspiration. And that was fine, because it brought me some satisfaction in the moment.
When I made journaling part of my daily routine, it brought me so much more. Now, rather than just using my journal as a therapist in times of desperation, it is a creativity coach, a business partner, a connection to myself – my own inner wisdom – and a connection to the divine.
I want to see and talk to my partner every day, so why not create the same intimate relationship with myself?
The other thing is, creativity and inspiration find me. I don’t have to wait to feel inspired, to feel creative – by sitting down to journal every day I open that channel for inspiration to find me. Which means that I feel inspired quite often – a lot more than I used to. And that fuels me for all my other creative projects. I do so much more because I feel inspired.
Not everyone will feel inspired by journaling every day. For some it will be drawing, or gardening, or playing music. And I’m not perfect – I certainly miss the odd day. But that’s ok because I always want to do it again the next day. I miss it if I don’t do it. It keeps me sane.
What do you do every day to keep the creative fire lit and stay connected to yourself?
journalwild.home.blog 