How I use morning pages and why you should too!
Let’s talk about writing
I have self diagnosed hypergraphia which in a nutshell means I write ALL the time!
I have tons of notebooks filled with copious amounts of notes. I keep notebooks around me at all times. With that being said, no other form of writing has changed my life like Morning Pages.
Morning Pages is a daily writing practice popularized by Julia Cameron. It is three pages of long hand, stream of consciousnesses writing, written as early in your day as possible.
The purpose is not to write down things you will revisit and edit later, but rather to serve more as a spiritual windshield wiper. They help take the nebulous thoughts you might feel and put it on to paper so that you can get on with your day.
There are so many thoughts inside our head at all times from the endless to-do lists, the fears, the work needed to be completed, planning etc. and it all becomes this weight that we begin to carry around with us. The weight slows you down and blocks your creative process. All thoughts being generated by your anxiety contribute to a lack of focus and productivity from things you are passionate about and creatively driven by.
Morning pages acts as a brain dump by jotting down all the little thoughts running wild in your mind. By dumping these thoughts you are making room for more creative thinking. The more diligently you practice the act of writing your Morning Pages the more you begin to heal.
The beauty of morning pages is that you just write. You write about whatever comes to your mind. Don't over think the process. Just write.
I wake up, make a cup of coffee, go to my desk with a notebook, a pen and I write. I write anything that comes to mind. I don't judge what I am writing or thinking. All I know is I am to write three full pages and I get it done. This has become such a huge part of my morning routine the past two years. There is something so peaceful about pouring my cup of coffee and opening my journal each morning.
Through Morning Pages, I have found myself more in sync with my intuition.
Do I have days that I don't want to write? Absolutely. Write anyway.
I've been doing morning pages for two years now and I find that if I don’t write in the morning that I am more anxious throughout the day and less focused. Since starting Morning Pages, I now consider myself a creative person. I was never one to think of myself as creative before. There is an artist inside all of us.
I encourage you to set your clock every morning for a half hour earlier, and write three pages long hand and begin to feel the weight lifted from you as well.
