Ritual: Writing

Have you ever heard of NaMoWriMo? It's a challenge to help you get a book written in November by writing a certain amount every day. We don't think most people want to write a book, but it reminds us that taking some time every day to get some thoughts down has been incredibly useful for us.

Another practice is one found in Julia Cameron's An Artist's Way — the book lays out a series of lessons to help you better access the artist in you. But, one of the very first suggestions is to get out a journal every morning and complete three pages of "morning pages." At first, it might just be three pages of "Why did I want to do this?" or "I have to run an errand and clean the house and I hope the weather is nice for the weekend." It doesn't have to be anything deep; it's just a way to get in touch with your inner artist.

You don't have to be an intentional, aspiring artist. There's something about it that helps us get clarity around things we didn't even know we needed clarity on! Also, even we thought that it can't possibly make that much of a difference, the process is really enhanced by getting pen to paper. Obviously, if you can't do that, it's better to tippy-type than not to do it at all. But, we'd be remiss if we didn't let you in on that part.

As the weather turns into a more obvious state of autumn, we encourage you to give daily journaling a try. We're going to set out to do NaMoWriMo... so wish us luck!