Do you have a specific morning routine?
I described mine, here.
One of the practices that I have added to it recently is writing my “morning pages”. I bought a notebook at HomeGoods, which aptly has the word “WRITE” splayed across the cover. It has quickly become one of my most-prized possessions.
I cannot take credit for this idea. I got it from the awe-inspiring Lauryn of The Skinny Confidential, who got it from the book The Artist’s Way.
When I was considering what direction I wanted to take my blog in, I used the workbook version of The Artist’s Way to find some clarity and hone in on my creativity. It helped me tremendously.
What are the “morning pages”?
The first chapter of the workbook opens to what author Julia Cameron deems “Basic Tools”. The first tool then, is the morning pages. These are 3 pages of long-hand, stream-of-consciousness writing. Effectively, a brain purge, that takes place as soon as one wakes up. The words are not meant to be pretty, or even to make sense.
As Cameron states…
“My pages are often grumpy. I use them to vent. I like having a place where I can be as petty as I sometimes feel.”
I am a bear in the morning. My pages are often grumpy too.
This summer, I went through a difficult period in my personal life. I wrote about the frustrations I had and the anger bubbling up inside of me.
When I put my pen to paper, all of my feelings came tumbling out. The good, the bad, and the ugly; really ugly.
In re-reading my pages, I saw what I was holding onto and where I needed to let go. I was even able to pinpoint areas where I had made mistakes in a certain relationship.
I suppose you could say that my words brought me to my own attention.
“They make us proactive on our own behalf – and almost without our noticing it. Daily, they point us toward what in 12-step jargon is called ‘the next right thing’. That thing is usually small and doable. The pages move us into action on our own behalf.”
This is true. Therapists recommend “the pages” to their patients as a means of self-discovery. The important thing to note is that the pages teach you to honor what is, without judgement.
Cameron lists numerous examples of people who transformed their lives by adopting this practice, “a day at a time, a page at a time”; from uncovering a suppressed talent to healing an addiction. Transformation does not happen overnight.
“Many people describe morning pages as a sort of homecoming. It is a recovery process in the sense that we re-cover the distance we have traveled away from our authentic self.”
In my pages I see more of what I need. They remind me how much I love to read and write, and to share.
Whereas this blog is concerned, I realized that it is sometimes more fulfilling for me to draft a post like this one than it is to develop a recipe. Although, I like that too. I want to create a space where the frivolous and the meaningful can co-exist.
“We write into an interactive universe that hears our daily pages as prayer.”
Yes. I pray in several capacities. In the traditional, down-on-your-knees, asking and thanking sense. I consider it a prayer every time I say “Thank You” for something positive; a “more of this, please…”.
Meditation has proven to be a way for me to connect to Source. My morning pages are another way for me to strengthen that connection.
“Prayers are answered, too, as increased synchronicity. We are more and more often in the right time and place, ‘happening’ to find exactly what it is that we have needed.”
Over the course of the last 8 weeks, I have been blown away by the magic unfolding before me.
When I first started my pages, one of the things that I found myself writing often is that my body was craving yoga. I have fallen in-and-out of my practice over the years, never finding a studio that I loved or an online course which I could adhere to. I stopped searching, and then of course, discovered breathe. It is the perfect space for me, in every way.
I penned a lot of questions in that time too. All of a sudden, book recommendations started falling into my lap. The books led to podcasts and videos; all of which provided answers to my dilemmas. I am growing and learning, and I like that very much.
And for, the most wonderful happenings…
On 4 separate occasions I have picked up my phone at the exact moment an out-of-touch friend has decided to text to me. Cameron says that this is a common occurrence.
Each friend delivered a message that helped to heal my heart. Not one of them knew that it needed healing.
Now that is magical, indeed.
So tell me, have you heard of this concept before? Do you write morning pages? And if not, what are you waiting for…?
