Day 7: The Wonder of Mo(u)rning Pages
It's been an year since I started doing the morning pages consistently. For those who is hearing about morning pages for the first time, it is a tool recommended by Julia Camerone in her widely acclaimed book The Artist's Way. Simply said, It is three pages of long form writing you do immediately after waking up. You are not supposed to apply any filter here. Whatever comes to your mind should flow to the paper.
In the beginning of 2019, I was having a tough time handling my life, work, relationships etc and was feeling that I was trapped in some isolated space. I didn't know how to handle such a feeling. It was then that a friend recommended The Artist's Way to me. At that point, I was ready to try anything that would help me eventually. So I started the 12 week program as per the book. Immediately after starting the book, I got an opportunity to move to a different city for a brief period. This was a welcome change after being in the same city for sometime. May be the universe decided to help those who try to help themselves.
I started waking up early to get this morning pages done. It helped me to empty my brain immediately after waking up and I began to see my life more clearly. There was an overall feeling of lightness. It even made me say yes to many opportunities and I even went on a date with a guy from Tinder. But as the weeks progressed, I was forced to deal with many of my inner demons. Julia Camerone mentions that this is where people usually give up. And she was right. I couldn't take it anymore. Suddenly I didn't want to deal with my thoughts. I stopped doing the morning pages and tasks and started being miserable again.
Almost six months passed and I lost many opportunities in between. I was struggling to find a job and had to face rejections every day. I needed a place to vent and that made me pick up the morning pages again. This time around, I didn't overwhelm myself with the weekly tasks mentioned in the book. It was just the morning pages.
After a month of morning pages, I started making small improvements in my routine. This happened quite organically. Instead of making excuses, I started showing up for myself. I managed to get a good offer and was finally able to say good bye to the place where I have been trapped for years. I became more confident, easygoing and was comfortable with the person I am. Over this one year, there has been continuous growth, both professionally and personally. All I can say is that the spark for all such developments came from the morning pages. I wouldnt have the courage to take up a personal project of 200 words per day one year ago if not for these morning pages. This is the biggest proof that it works.
