A Journey must not be Wasted

Journal not to remember, but to refine your instincts

Insight

I woke around 11:30pm. Something bumped in the night, but after a few seconds of hearkening the silence, I decide to slide back into my slumber. However, my mind began to imagine.

I’m not sure if having enough sleep prompted the speeding train of thoughts, or if something bothered me before bed, but I was too spent to entertain it. At that moment, I knew I wasn’t going back into sleep.

So, I hopped up into the living room, put on a pot of blue lotus tea and started writing. I poured anything in my mind onto the paper. It looks like vomit, and now that I revisit it, I can make out 3 pages of journaling from 12 - 2am.

I think Julia Cameron would be proud. At least, I am and I think she would be more proud of that. Without thinking, I crafted three morning pages. A few years ago, it was hard work to even try. But now, and especially when my mind is racing, I can spill all my imaginations onto paper until I find rest.

Because that’s what I’m looking for when I journal. I have journeyed the day and am I tired of the thoughts. They weigh heavy. But they weigh less when I journal the day. A few things I journal -

• Homemade proverbs (like the one above)

• Lists to keep me organized

• Tarot Questions and Answers

• Story Frameworks

• Quick things I want to remember

• Sometimes, a stream of consciousness

• Statements of Intentions - (these are powerful moments for me)

I really don’t know if I’ll ever re-read my journals. I used to think that I must capture everything neatly so that I could revisit the document. I realize that at least for myself, journaling is exercise. I don’t need to remember anything. I need to express it.

The more I write and rewrite frameworks, the more often I use them in daily life. And they save me more than once. It’s a little like martial arts training. You do the exercises so that in a moment of danger, your instinct obeys your training.

Journaling frameworks I want to use helps me instinctively use them in a moment of crisis when normally, I would act a fool.

I’m glad I developed this skill. I wish I had kept my first journal, but I’m glad that I didn’t let that stop me from starting again.

Direction

You should start today. Buy a small book, lined, dotted or blank paged. Get a really nice pen, one that comforts your hand and makes your handwriting look fine. Date it and start writing.

Question

Once you have a topic in mind (wealth problem, relationship struggle, career shift or a spiritual query), ask yourself the following question and journal until you feel satisfied.

• Where are you at in relationship to where you want to be?

• What do you regret?

• Where can you improve?

• How can you start asking for help from someone who knows more?

  There are many more questions! If you want to sojourn on with me, please subscribe and sign up for the paid edition. But however, you sojourn, as always, may your story continue.