Journaling, magic and a year of writing
I don’t usually like to start off these notes with promos, but in the rare instance you don’t make it all the way to the bottom of this note (attacked by bears or nodding off… only two explanations), then at least you know about the deal before the bear gets you. Save $30 if you sign up to A Writing Year. It’s my best selling course BY FAR. Spend the year writing and befriending self via the written word.
Okay… onto the usual blog posts… and a side note on why writing in your journal every day is worth it.
I'm lucky to be in a position to be asked advice on things.
Mostly Paris and creativity. These are things I know.
In Paris, I spend a few days walking out-of-towners around my neighbourhood, taking them to my favourite haunts and giving them a few tidbits of interesting information at each one. It not exactly a walking tour since I forget most of the historic details of each place. I mention what I remember or what I find interesting, then when our feet were tired, we find a café with a nice view of the street.
The lazy tourist. That's how I roll.
In one of these urban hikes, I connected with a lady and her niece. The niece had just graduated from college and was about to move to Los Angeles. LA is another topic I know a lot about.
I wanted to take her aside and tell her so many things.
"Forget the Eiffel Tower. You need to know about parking in Beverly Hills."
As someone who lived in LA for a long time toiling away at the ol' career, I had much to offer this young grasshopper. I wanted to tell her that LA is a big town and she'll need a good car with great gas mileage. I wanted to tell her to live beneath her means and to not let Whole Foods make her lazy in the kitchen. They may cut all her vegetables, but in doing so they will cut deep into her wallet, too. I wanted to tell her to spend as much time at the ocean as possible. Ditch the makeup and let the hair fall as it may. That's the look.
But mostly I wanted to tell her to keep a journal.
Because if I were at the beginning of my career and green with life skills, I would have wished someone would have told me to keep a daily journal. I believe I would have been happier and better at life sooner.
Daily journal writing = Life design 101
Luckily, I came across Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way early on (but not early enough) which explained the magic of morning pages, which is writing three pages a day in a journal every day.
Writing in a journal has helped me figure out my life. Simple. Each day I carved out time in my day to figure out finances, heal heart ache, ponder creative path, and plan the day, week, and year. It was the place where I figured out how to save up, pare down, quit my job and travel. On the road, the journal was my home base. The one place that was familiar when everything around me was different.
I wrote to learn what I knew.
And what I knew was that I was the boss of me and I had all the inner resources I needed to effectively deal with my situations. That when life went askew, I could pull back, open my journal and figure out what to do. Most of all, I wrote down my angst in a private place so I didn't have to offload it onto others and stink up the joint with my foul mood. Everyone around you can smell your vibe... what's your signature blend?"
Sweet with a hint of spice.
In the end, I didn't tell the young grasshopper much at all beyond a few tidbits about Paris. My spidey sense said she wouldn't have heard me anyway.
Youth. That whole thing.
But I would have loved to tell her about the magic of journaling.
If you’d like to get consistent with journal writing, consider my course:
A Writing Year
Improve your writing. Get a year of writing prompts designed to inspire and strengthen writing skills. Binge the lessons or do one a week. There are 52 lessons in all.
✓ Thought provoking stories to read
✓ Intriguing writing prompts
✓ Self-guided format for ease of use
✓ A learning platform that is easy to follow along
✓ 12 months of access, because I want you to get on it and not put it off
All my books and letters started as journal entries. I wonder what will come of your journal entries…
PS Also, if you’re in the market for a 2024 Planner with pretty Paris art, here’s a thought…
Plans plans plans… maybe I’ll go to Paris for the Olympics.
