8 BIG insights from a LITTLE writing task!
As many of you know, I have just had a very busy couple of weeks. I have thought a lot about this and on this occasion I really think my busy two weeks were pretty much unavoidable due to where things I was committed to fell in my calendar, although had I realised this earlier I could have likely moved some things around and changed this situation for myself. However, I did not do this and had an extremely busy couple of weeks.
The Sunday before the first Monday of the ‘marathon’ as I came to call it, I was going for a walk and trying to think about anything I could put into place to support myself through this time. I decided to commit to a simple journaling challenge. I decided to write for 5 minutes every morning and 5 minutes every evening for the next fourteen days. Although this was in some way adding to my marathon it felt like it was a supportive and possibly restorative addition that could support me to stay connected and grounded. I said I would write for 5 minutes on waking and 5 minutes before going to sleep; I wrote out some basic prompts in case my brain wasn’t working (I know myself!) and put my pad and pencil out ready for the first morning. I also asked if anyone would be interested in joining me on this challenge and I had a number of others who committed to the challenge too. As I have come to the end of this marathon (still alive), I wanted to share with you the insights that stemmed from my scribbling. Just to note, these insights have only really become apparent at the end of the fourteen days when I have read back through my words on the page in order to reflect.
Insights:
1. The negative dark thoughts in the morning were pretty much gone by day 4. For me this is HUGE, for many years I have been plagued with quite dark and depressing thoughts on waking early. The first day it was the first thing I wrote down, I wasn’t surprised. However, by day 4 I was writing about how I felt good and found getting up easier.
2. This was a process of putting me first in my life. Hear me out, this is not some egotistical nonsense. My day started with me at the centre of it, not my thoughts and feeling about everything I had to do that day, or with the demands on my time. This felt GOOD and stayed with me throughout most days
3. I was able to rationalise irrational thoughts. We have lots of thoughts, all the time and we choose to fixate on some of them, but we do not often examine the nature of these thoughts. In the act of writing down some of my more illogical or irrational thoughts I was able to see how ridiculous some of them sounded and then I didn’t fixate on them, I could let them go. It also allowed me to get some perspective on these thoughts and see the limiting mindset that sat behind them. This insight has been beneficial in helping me start to shift some of these harmful ways of thinking.
4. I was able to concentrate better. This has to be a huge plus for me. I am a peri-menopausal woman and the brain fog and lack of concentration is real! But this helped. I think it is because it allowed me to let go of extraneous thoughts and both ends of the day so that I could focus on what I needed to when I needed to.
5. Some days I noticed that I was setting my intentions for the day. This was really powerful. ‘Today I want to make sure I allow myself to factor in restful moments’ or ‘today I need to be kind and compassionate to myself if I feel overwhelmed’.
6. Sometimes when I did not know what to write I realised that I was experiencing resistance. There was stuff that I was thinking about, but I was resistant to writing it down, I was resistant to going there. I made myself ‘go there’ on a couple of occasions and it had allowed me to process those thoughts I was resistant to and take away some of their power.
7. That we don’t always value a process when we are in the thick of it. On re-reading my writing there were a few occasions where I had written that I wasn’t sure about the value of this writing malarkey as I just felt like I was spouting rubbish. Being able to read everything back gave me a much more objective stance to get some perspective on my writing and see how absolutely and deeply valuable the whole process has been. So, in future I will read back my writing every couple of days.
8. I had some useful insights into my work and my business that I would never have seen if I had not been writing. I wrote about the things I had done that had brought me joy in my work as an educator and facilitator that I had not really acknowledged fully before, maybe I had just taken this for granted, but writing it down, made me realise much more about my own place in the work that I do.
(During the 14 days there was one evening and one morning where I had completely forgotten to do it, but it was mostly done very first thing, or the last thing when I got into bed).
Overall, it has been an extremely valuable experience and I intend to continue with it, not in a way that becomes a demand on my time but in order to keep up with some of these amazing benefits. I may just commit to it on weekdays, or if I feel like I am about to go through a demanding period. I now know that I have another tool in my toolbox that can really support me and nourish me, which of course is incredibly valuable.
I would love to hear from any of you who are interested in this as a tool for your own lives, or if any of my insights have resonated with you too.