You ask me what’s been happening? Nothing much, but mostly new things. Like a new housemate, the move into a bigger room, the joy of decorating a fresh love nest. The usual: 5 AM rises for work, trying but failing to keep my eyes open after 9 PM, Sunday breakfast on the beach.
Some rituals from the past finding their crispy crawling way back into my life: savouring sipping enjoying only one single early coffee a day. This is a big step for this little lady, as I usually run to the coffee machine every time my energy drops, creating a four-a-day habit before the clock even strikes noon.
Another blast from the past I’ve been indulging in lately: Morning Pages. Oh, this sweet practice always finds a way to wriggle itself back into my daily life when I need it the most. It’s as simple as it is genius: you write three pages as soon as you wake up. You don’t have to think about what you write, you don’t read your text afterwards and no one else can read it, either. Free flow, baby! Let all the random thoughts, worries, anything and everything run free.
All you have to do is take about half an hour of time for yourself, preferably without distractions. This is the one thing I’m still trying to manage. Setting my alarm at 4.30 AM just feels too extravagant, and in the weekends I enjoy waking up slowly next to my love and starting our day together instead of slipping out of bed for an early writing session. That’s the difficult part. But once you find your rhythm, you just freewrite until three pages are filled. It doesn’t matter what you write, the most important thing is: you’re writing. Your pen doesn’t stop dancing on the page.
These holy morning pages have been introduced to me by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. Since I started writing them four years ago in my room in Toronto, they have been following me pretty much wherever I go. With some breaks in between I have to admit. But when my mind gets a bit too tangled, they come back to me. Most of the time with answers to questions and things I’ve been worrying about for too long.
That’s the magic of the pages: because you write your dreams/ thoughts/ worries/ issues down first thing in the morning, the pages take it off your mind. After a while, you might find yourself seeing things in new perspectives, making problems easier to solve. It's crazy but it works! Over the years I have met many people who use their morning pages as a personal practice to start the day. Some consider it meditation, a therapy session or just good old quality time with yourself. Whatever you call it, I'm hooked.