This week we explored practicing mindfulness outside of the classroom by beginning to write morning pages. In the book "The Artist's Way", the author Julia Cameron introduces 'morning pages'. Morning pages are three pages of handwritten thoughts, done in the morning before one gets to accomplishing anything else. They are written in a way that is neither right or wrong. They are meant to be the primary tool of creative recovery. By this Cameron means that by writing these morning pages, we block out what is known as The Censor. The Censor is our internal critic that resides in the left brain. By getting out of bed in the morning and writing morning pages you are evading the sharp opinion of your Censor. It is our hardest critic, it evaluates everything we write, we create, and we think while disguising its remarks as the truth. To prevent The Censor from gaining power over you and your creativity, we must belittle it to something like a bad character from our favorite book or movie. Writing morning pages helps us overcome The Censor, to put aside and get over the constant fear and negativity that it evokes.
As a young girl growing up without brothers or sisters, I sometimes kept a journal. A black and white composition notebook with "Janetha's Journal" written on it. It was my confidant, it became my brother, sister, and father. I wrote in it daily to replace those who I did not have in my life. As I entered high school, I found less and less time for journaling because I had become to busy hanging out with friends or some other school activity. When I entered college, I had begun to experience a growth away from the people who at the time had mattered the most. A year later when I read through the pages in my journal, I was amazed at how much growth I had experienced. I did complete the task of writing morning pages daily for a few weeks but I was not able to keep up with them as the semester became more hectic.
Hope you enjoyed this insight!
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