Mind-Full or Mindful? the Art of Writing answers

You don’t know what you don’t know

Through my recent coaching certification process, I discovered a lot of things about myself.  I set out on a path of certifications, believing that I needed the piece of paper, the validation of being a “coach”.   My certifications are in Mindfulness, Meditation, Spiritual, Law of Attraction, Therapeutic Art, and Life.

Well, duh?!

I have been practicing these tools most of my adult life.  From my morning pages of writing; to my favorite drawing mediums of pointalism, doodling, and zentangles; combined with my habits of affirmations and creative visualization. Sprinkle in my curiosity of the metaphyscial things like tarot cards, oracle cards, crystals, yoga, mudras, and aromatherapy, and top it off with my inner pursuit for happiness, serenity and self-improvement.

My morning pages ( 3 pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, ideally done first thing in the morning) is the epitome of mindfulness, meditation, law of attraction, a sense of therapeutic art and yes, my life. Back when I started morning pages, over 30 years ago, mindfulness and meditation were NOT so mainstream.

That was back when my “mentors” were people like Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Shakti Gawain, Julia Cameron, Melodie Beattie, and a host of others.  My walls were lined with Self-Help and Metaphysical books.  I was a voracious reader trying to soak up and assimilate all the knowledge that I thought would “change” me and give me a better life.

My mind was always full of ideas, dreams, and the pursuit of being “good enough”.  It was  a hamster wheel where life just seemed to repeat it self and spin round and round and round.  I just wanted to be good enough for people to like me, and at times, just adore me. Perhaps, even good enough to be loved.

Sometimes I think I am just a slow learner, or maybe it is just something that comes with time and age.

Journaling and Morning Pages have been my mindfulness tool for over thirty years.  I have started most days with my journal and my zen pen often calling them my daily brain dumps. In retrospect this is the one tool that kept my fears, anxiety, and negativity at bay.

During the most difficult times in my life, the times when I got overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, I told myself, I didn’t have time for morning pages or self care, are the times I would focus on the external, all the things outside of myself, and thinking I could control things if I just worked harder.

All it did, was make life more unmanageable, and each time (in hindsight) I was left with the feeling of “I lost me.”  Those were the times I made myself small, put others happiness in front of my own, and told myself I was good enough or working hard enough or all the other “not enough” negative things.  You know, not young enough, pretty enough, thin enough, kind enough, not enough in my bank account, and the list goes on and on.

Whether it is journaling, morning pages, or the creative art of writing, it all comes from the zen pen.  It is one of the best tools for mindfulness.  Beyond meditation, beyond mindfulness exercises, beyond mindful minute distractions.

The zen pen, the flow of pen to paper, will give you the answers you have within yourself, and you will discover you ARE ENOUGH just as you are.  The zen pen is the quickest way to be in the moment and release all the hamster wheel thoughts.  It is proven that if we don’t get the thoughts on paper, they will just run around your brain, looking for a way to escape.

Do you journal?

Do you write morning pages?

What stops you?

If you have a few more moments, travel over to my YouTube channel and check out a few of the mindful minutes or the short meditations to help quiet your thoughts and then ask yourself, how can I be more mindful and less mind full.  Let me know!

Namaste   – Love and Light!

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