I’m a talker, I’ve always been the friend who talks a lot and all the time. Even so, when I write, I always want to sound like myself. Thing is, I’ve presented myself to the world as the loud, bubbly, jokester for so long that there are only a handful of people who have experienced the inquisitive thinker (writer) side of me. I think it is important to make room for and embrace every layer of our personalities. For when my boisterous ways collide with the stillness within me, that’s where the honey of my soul flows through my pen.
I am working on being consistent with writing daily no matter how uninspired I am or mundane and boring the journal entry is, I must write. I’ve found that I thoroughly enjoy expressing myself in written form, even though sometimes I don’t know what to say. My goal is to get back into the habit of writing so it can become a lifestyle for me again. One thing that “gets me goin’ as a writer is writing in my gratitude journal.
The SimplyAriRenee definition of a gratitude journal: a journal that is specifically designed with prompts, topics, and even exercises to get you into the mindset of being grateful. Then you express your gratitude in written form. Sometimes it is a process, so the format of the journal can assist you in adapting a more conscious mindset of gratitude.
I’ve bought a few gratitude journals but the one that fits me is the one I found by Morgan Harper Nichols (MHN). I’ve been a follower of her music, poetry, art and literature for quite some time now and I just love how her brain works. I love how she formatted it. Take a look below…
In addition to becoming more grateful, writing in this gratitude journal helps me to get in the mindset and the mood to write. Some days when I’m uninspired, this journal gives me the spark of inspiration I need. I don’t always stick to the format, I might cross out one or two sections because I’ve just naturally overflowed into it and once I get started, I can’t be stopped.
After I’ve written in my gratitude journal, I like to transfer my poems and some quotes into my “regular” journal. This journal is where I store some of my poems, prayers and go deeper with my feelings and thoughts. I honestly don’t always write in my regular journal daily (or have access to it) so I use the notes app on my phone to write as well.
MHN’s #fillthejournal challenge from a few years ago really inspired to me fill up my journals with my writings and poetry. The purpose was to complete a task and the task was simply to fill the journal we were writing in. I’ve been an avid journal collector for a while so #fillthejournal challenged me to fill the journals I already had instead of beginning a journal and not finishing. This helped me build consistency with my writing and honestly, this blog is helping me with that as well.
So, if you have a journal, be sure to write in it today even if it is one simple line, commit to it. We all start somewhere.
Godspeed,
SimplyAriRenee
Comments