These are mostly morning pages and night journals. It felt good going through the massive pile and chucking them out. There’s a nice big space left now for hubby to store some of his stuff. Have you kept or thrown out your morning pages or other journals? Was it a difficult decision or easily made? Have you never kept this many journals before in order to be able to come to this decision? Please share any journal throwing out sessions in the comments section below.

Heather
Photo is my own.

Post from: Blisstree

Throwing Out Journals

David LaMotte, a songwriter, gives an excellent description of how he uses Morning Pages on his website in his advice to aspiring songwriters. Scroll down the page until you find the heading Warming Up: Free Writes.

I used Morning Pages consistently for over four years and found them a powerful creativity tool. While writing those three pages in longhand faithfully each morning I increased my regular writing output significantly. I don’t agree they’re for everyone, though. I do think you should try them for a good three months just to see if they suit you.

Although Morning Pages are considered journal writing they’re more a way to clear your headspace for the start of the day. Still, all journal writing is a tool to help you live a better life. Perhaps Morning Pages will be exactly what you need.

Heather

Post from: Blisstree

What Are Morning Pages?

I did take away the practice of Morning Pages with me; more on that in a later entry, but have stopped doing those since I discovered I was pregnant last year. I look forward to getting back into that habit once my baby is more settled in his sleeping patterns.

While The Artist’s Way is a structured and even severe introduction to Cameron’s view on creativity, The Sound of Paper is far gentler on the reader. With this book the author assumes you’ve already established the habits of Morning Pages, Artist’s Dates and Walks which I think were introduced in Vein of Gold, please correct me if I’m wrong. This book softly urges you to stay with these practices, not to give up and to continue creating whatever art you’ve come to call your own.

I found myself romanced by the short essays, wanting to create more writing for its own sake, feeling a welling desire to lift my pencils and paintbrushes again. I couldn’t rush the reading of this book. I needed to take in and digest each simple thought. Although I didn’t actually pick up a pen and attempt any of the exercise at the end of each essay, they were simple and achievable. I’d recommend the book for the simplicity of those exercises, most of them requiring little more than making a list.

Although there’s nothing really new in this book I would recommend it to anyone interested in refreshing their creativity or who is facing a block in their work.

Heather

Post from: Blisstree

The Sound of Paper