#creatingchallenge day 20 / declutter your brain...everyday

A very simple yet profound method for daily clearing out that clutter in your brain is "morning pages." Morning pages is a simple exercise of writing three pages, in longhand, every morning, first thing. The goal is to just write out whatever stream of consciousness you have and get it on paper. The exercise activates your brain to declutter and get all those ideas, lists, worries, inner critic voices, reflections, and random thoughts out of your head and onto paper where you can either let it go, or do something with it.

Today I decided to do morning pages and add it into my daily morning ritual. I had read about this exercise a few years ago in Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way, but had not adopted the practice as a part of my ongoing morning ritual...until now. Honestly, I was challenged today as I read a few pages in Learning to Listen Learning to Teach by Jane Vella. She wrote that "Carl Jung insisted that all those who wish to be clinical analysts (counselors) should themselves undertake a long, arduous program of analysis...The same holds true for the adult learning process. We teachers have to honor our own need to learn. We must talk about that honestly." These words reminded me, yet again, the need to "walk the talk" and do what I need to do to be my best self even as I support others in doing the same...and morning pages are a practical way to declutter my own brain.

So what happened? I put on paper what was on my mind this morning (I have to admit that I finished page three during the afternoon) and then launched into another task I had been putting off for weeks. Hmmm...if this is a sign of things to come it is so worth it.

I also found several articles and posts about this exercise online. One of those was on Inc.com called Why It’s Worth Making Time for This Lengthy Morning Ritual by Jessica Stillman. From business owners to creatives...we all want to have the best access to our creative selves throughout the day and this practice can help clear the mental clutter for a more focused day.

I'm going to keep going on this one as part of my "write every day" challenge. 

Want to join me? If you do, I'd like to hear how it goes for you. And I'll share the same.