Over five years ago, I first heard about the practice of writing morning pages. Its most basic explanation is three pages of longhand stream of conscious writing to be done first thing in the morning. And since learning about morning pages, I have spent more time not writing than I have in actually writing those morning pages.
Back in October, I decided to restart that practice, and today was me completing one month’s worth of morning pages.
First of all, I would like to congratulate myself as I have never lasted this long with these pages. Some days are harder than others to write, and sometimes I don’t write them first thing in the morning. As I continue into my 2nd month of pages, I will be working to correct that. Even so, I haven’t seen a dramatic change yet, but I have seen a difference in my life since recommitting to the morning pages practice.
Knowing that the pages are for my eyes only breaks down that barrier and allows me to feel free to write about anything. A freedom that I do tend to take advantage of. More often than not, however, my thoughts turn to my writing and the career I would like to have someday. It has become such a great help for me to work through new ideas rather than leaving them cluttered in my head. I also see a difference when I accidentally start writing later rather than first thing in the morning. There is a difference in how I act and react throughout the day.
In addition, today marks the 18th day in a row that I have written and published a blog post, and I credit that to the morning pages. Most likely, I would still be stuck in my head, amongst all of my jumbled thoughts. Whether I wrote nonsense or constructive thoughts, that daily practice has allowed me to clear the cobwebs and start writing and posting again.
I look forward to seeing what other changes come over the next month as I keep up with my daily pages.
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