“What are morning pages? Put simply, the morning pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness: “Oh, god, another morning. I have NOTHING to say. I need to wash the curtains. Did I get my laundry yesterday? Blah Blah Blah. They might also more ingloriously, be called brain drain, since that is one of their main functions. There is no wrong way to do morning pages… the morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery,”  from    The Artist’s Way says Julia Cameron.

Try them; they’ll work for you, Bud.

Bruce and Stan wrote “God is in The
Small Stuff–and It All Matters”, and they
devoted an entire chapter to “Learn To Write,” quoting from 2
Corinthians 3:2 “Your lives are a letter written in our hearts, and
everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.”

They say that most people rarely write and miss out on one of the greatest
forms of communication and self-expression. And, I submit, that applies to most
men who don’t take even-a- little time to document their lives in a Journal.

A Journal, whether pen strokes on paper or
keystrokes on a computer, allows us a safe way to explore topics with
ourselves. They are, in fact, a reflection of our soul on the mirror of life
and as such contain the record of our honest and vulnerable journey with God.
We can record what God’s been doing in our lives and we can spiritually share
ourselves with Him and examine ways for spiritual growth. Journaling is one
important spiritual disciplines to employ to achieve a grace-centered life.

Some more specific types of journals are:

• Logs, a regularly kept record of performance like a ships log
  recording navigational details. This factual account of events over time
  is usually kept in a format or even in a table for easy examination of
  trends and patterns. In summary, a log is a chronological journal, focused
  on the recording of a specific category of events of our lives and our
  reflections on those events – a temporal ordering that is familiar to us.

• Diaries, “a daily record and a book for keeping private notes
  and records” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, are filled with
  everything private and personal. They are filled with feelings where logs
  are aimed at recording facts. Anything is fair game as a “subject” for an
  entry and spontaneous; “free writing” is the method usually employed.
• Journals then, are a “service book…for accounts of daily
  events, a record of proceedings and a periodical dealing with current
  events,” according to the dictionary. Or they can be thought of as
  containing the superset of entries from logs and diaries, but they are more
  importantly used to record our innermost personal reflections, thereby
  becoming a living document describing our being.

Some of the most common classifications of
journals:

• Daily gratitude’s,
• Progress towards goals,
• Past events and doors opened,
• Prayers,
• Letters to God or others,
• Dialogue with God,
• Responses to Reading Scripture.

But the one “face” of Journaling not mentioned
above is one that I feel is perhaps the most important, the Personal Goals and
Growth Journal. By writing down your goals, whether daily, weekly, or whatever
and then reflecting on the progress toward achieving those goals; that writing
can be a terrific source of increased inner potential and development. As a
place to sustain our inner personal growth and enhance our professional career,
a journal should never be an end to itself but more like practicing the piano –
the more you do it, the more natural it becomes.

Nor should journal keeping become an obligation
or a chore; it is a tool and may fit your “hand” better than some other tools
fit. As May Sarton said in her journal, “Perhaps we write toward what we will
become from where we are.”

Well, the Clay Molding & Journaling Retreat went well; I’m holding another one on Oct. 15. The others were a bust.

What kinds of retreats and workshops have you been at and felt really good about them? And did you think you got what you paid for?

I’m taking a survey. Thanks.

I’m in full planning mode for our first “clay and spiritual journaling” retreat here in Cornelius, NC. More things to think of, especially when you have an associate doing part of the program. Go to http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=4vsoyteab&oeidk=a07e4j96gcm17b99750 to see the event description. The potter, Roger Strom, and I have done one before for a Spiritual Directors Organization but this will be the first public offering. Looking forward to people registering and coming. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Bud

I just received a gardening catalog that has many varieties of “grow bags” advertised in it. They are made of patented fabric in three colors that breathe to reduce heat build-up. You can just grow your tomatoes or peppers, or garlic or potatoes or whatever in its specially-sized bag filled with “Energized Potting Mix” and sitting in a self-watering tray. You can have read tomatoes growing in a blue bag or blue tomatoes …

It made me think about when we humans became an agrarian people, i.e. Anasazi, they grew their crops in the ground and cultivated them carefully. As they migrated from place to place, they created pots to carry their special plants, the medicinal herbs, and what we now call – heirloom varities. Or maybe large plants were transported in baskets with soil in them to keep the plant stock alive and producing in the new land.

Think about your journal; what do you have growing in that container? Goals, work issues, political viewpoints, stories of relationships –some strained and some pleasurable, etc. And you carry it from place to place, city to city as you write about your journey with the Higher One. What treasures have you recorded on those pages? The paper is the soil; the ink is like the water that makes the words (the seeds and plants) come alive and give their meanings to you, both emotionally and physically.

And of course, our journal is but a poor reflection of our soul; just like the grow bag gardens are but a very limited example of what Mother Nature can grow.

But, it is OUR words for the spirituality of our soul and they express our relationships with everything around us. So grow in your journal.

Where is your favorite place?

When we are in a situation that makes us feel anxious, we need to find a way to take our mind on a trip to our favorite place: a vibrant city, a lounge chair, a beautiful vista, a white sandy beach, etc.

Just one place should come instantly to mind; if not, then take out your journal now and spend 5 minutes writing about where is the place that you enjoy going to so much. Makes sure you decide upon a distinctive name for this place that you can easily remember– one only.
Now, when you know your favorite place and you need to think clearly about a confusing issue, then:
• Exhale and virtually put that troubling idea, a recurring worry, a new crisis, or even a nagging doubt into a pretend box, a safe, a file cabinet, a computer folder, etc. Store it away in the far reaches of your mind. Or even write it on a file card journal and get it out in the open for you to see. Either way works.
• Now, inhale and get some fresh air into all parts of your body so you are ready for your virtual trip to your favorite place. Remember not to pack your box for the trip.
• Take the trip and travel to your favorite place; enjoy the release of all tension in your body, from head to toes. Journal about how wonderful it is so you can read the travel-log at a later time.
• Now come back, feeling refreshed; open the box and deal calmly with the situation.

Read your journal entries when you have a new crisis and “Take a Trip Again.”

Open the door into your heart for your passion.

Where do you get your excitement, enthusiasm, desire, zest, zeal, fervor, ardor and intensity? What sets (and keeps) you on fire, hungry, thirsty and with a continual appetite? What gives you an eagerness, determination, willingness to change and do something you dearly love to do?

PASSION

Passion is a feeling, an emotion that drives you from morning to night to be the best that you can be at _____(You fill in the blank). Passion is sometimes difficult to find and maintain; we sometimes burn-out and are “adrift” in a hallway of nameless doors leading to paths we could choose to take.

How then to reconnect with your passion and discern the door to open to travel down that path of thrilling desire? James Maxwell says, “Through you cannot go back and make a brand new start my friend, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.”

Purchase a small journal and label it “My Passion Journal.” Carry it with you all day and begin recording the meaning of your sources of inspiration and insights about your passion, before they slip away into the ether:

1. Write down what has moved you and what you have loved doing during the last period,
2. When the time period has been all nose-to-the-grindstone, visualize a flashback to an earliert time and write about memories from that passionate time.
3. Or, imagine new ways to employ your passion and meet new goals of your passion – write them down in your journal.

These three actions can be done in 5-10 minutes during your lunch period or before you commute home. As you commit to documenting your passion, it will become a habit and you will notice how people you meet express their passion.

As you discover clues in your journaling about your passion, develop a way to index them, with a title word or in separate sections of your journal. And celebrate your devotion and creativity in expressing your passion in a new and enlightening way.

Your journal is like a field where plants can grow and flourish.

Everyone’s field is different than every other. And even your field/journal is different at different times of the year: like winter when it’s bleak outside (in North America) or spring when sprouts shoot up and blooms appear, et. So your journal has different plants and crops like themes and threads, patterns and even maybe a few weeds. Especially prevalent, I’m sure, are fruits and vegetables that you can savor as you “pick-them” from a later harvesting of your writing.

Sometimes a field rests when no seed is planted; like your journal when busyness takes over or depression comes forth. Sometimes the words are like old seeds – they won’t sprout or there are plants that refuse to bloom. But every field/journal has unique soil and regular writing/watering and new seeds/prompts will renew and produce a new crop of words/plants.

Then, with daily tending/writing, the field/journal will continue working to accompany you on your journey of life, from season to season.

Good growing in your journal and in your field.

I was thinking of Tom Sawyer’s picket fence, white-washed by the boys who came by with their “treasures” that Tom talked into giving to him for the privilege of painting the fence. This is like our days, pickets (events and happenings) that we give our time and attention to, in order to get a “treasure” of some sort.

But in Tom Sawyer, we never read about the yard or whatever was behind the fence, viewable in the spaces between the pickets. This is also like our days where the moments between our pickets are the spaces of time and place that would allow us to see beyond our current location if we would just focus.

And the spaces, the moments, should be a prime concentration of our journaling. We should be capturing the glimpses of our journey that are visible in those seemingly silent and empty yet marvelous pauses in our day. To record those moments, I have begun carrying ½ file cards, 2 ½ X 3, which are great for “short takes”; I call it “micro” journaling. It’s easy to jot down the scene, the sound, the thought and the future plan in bullets and phrases. During my next regular journaling, I sometimes tape them in my journal or I copy the essence into my journal entry.

So you too can get “treasures” from the picket fence, only this time without white-washing it – the way is to harvest the spaces.