In Devotion to Journaling

(The navigation system you can rely on)

Journaling is a passion. It's got me to where I am. It's given me clarity in times of intense emotional anguish.

I am not talking about a diary, where you record events (although I like to make a note of key things that have happened). It's the spilling out of your mind and emotional universe onto paper and seeing the stories and the hopes and the patterns and the fears swirl around and jump on top of each other, and you realise that of course it's hard to get anything done with all of that firing off between your neurotransmitters.

They are the early morning scribbles of a crazy person, with flashes of insight, wisdom and brilliance that is coming from no-one-truly-knows-where. The Mysterious Realms of Imagination and Inspiration . Ideas that spark into consciousness and travel through my hand onto paper. It HAS to be pencil and loose leaf paper, first thing in the morning. A nice wad of recycled paper, bulldog-clipped together and housed in my special ceremonial folder. Ceremony. Ritual. The morning and breaking of first light is a time of great personal ritual. I then usually pull a few tarot cards, find some physical pleasure, and I'm ready for the day.

One more thing is establishing itself in the morning rituals (as I write this on the morning of Winter Solstice) - and that is movement outside in the early morning light.

The full moon in the early morning, over my sister’s house in NC, where I finished off the ‘Lunar Witch Journal 2025’ - and I’m spending Solstice / Christmas.

I watched a video by an ADHD person saying: get outside asap. You wake up with all these natural levels of dopamine and it usually disappears into your phone (if that's the first thing you do). But if you get out of bed and just get outside immediately - you amplify your natural dopamine levels so they stretch further into your day.

Whether that's factually-scientifically correct or not, I definitely feel better for doing it. "Get outside", I'm whispering to myself, when still in the house at midday.

I've tended to hang out inside chasing my coffee buzz as I'm most creatively productive first thing in the morning, but it affects my health. I get all eye-twitchy and body-dissociated. Outside and moving as the light comes in and the day breaks.

What's your morning routine?

How do you start things?

I formed the habit of journaling when I committed to the Artist's Way in the summer lockdown 2020. Every morning (the Morning Pages) was 30-40 minutes scribbling out the contortions of my mind, no editing, no filter, no judgement - just bleughing everything out onto the page. At the time I was using some beautifully bound journals by Nant Designs. This was an expensive way to journal (you get through paper fast when you're bashing out a minimum of 3 sides of A4 every morning) but this investment and luxurious dressing of my ideas also did something to the ideas.

I was treating my brain-vomits like royalty, because they were actually leading me to gold.

I often I observed myself, amidst the panic and anxious swirling and creative blocks, issuing directions to myself about what I was to do that day. A very clear step-by-step about how to move forward with the big Mission Vision work (that I have a semi-clear sense of). I caught myself churning over the same doubts & pain points. I highlighted the self-directions and noted the stuff I needed to cut out.

Initially I would scold myself for 'wasting time' when I was writing out these pages. "You have work to do", etc. But now I realise that the journaling is the work - or the best work is not possible without the journaling. It polishes the lens so you can see clearly. It's the mirror and advisory board of counsellors you need when you're working it all out.

Something powerful happens when you get a thought onto paper. When you crystalise a dream with a written declaration. Then you start making it happen without even realising it.

I realise that some people are intimidated by a blank page (a conversation led by friend and collaborator Elizabeth Bogart). The blank page. They don't trust themselves with it. They don't believe they'll have any ideas.

How do you feel about a blank page?

Well, the page is never really blank.

You always have an idea.

That’s some inner kid stuff…

Animation created in 10 days, fast and furious - too time pressured to get worried. It started with an emerging song & invitation from Elle Chaska

And - if you need - you can always turn to some external stimulus.

A tarot card.

The moon…

Working with the Moon

You see, I like to work with the ebb and flow of the light reflecting from the moon. Galactic starlight. All that starlight being reflected down to Earth... who can guess how old it is, how far it's travelled?

I love the changing shape of the moon, whether at night, or in the day, you can see it hanging there in the sky. It reminds me of my soul's intent. The 'me' that's on a creative mission.

The Vision-Passion-Big-Purpose-Projects. Gotta keep those things ticking & licking alive to stay well, happy and inspired.

Here's the last thing I've been working on:

The cover took me bloody ages. Ages to figure out a cover for a print-on-demand brochure that doesn't look like it prints in the UK after all... but that's ok. I don't feel it was a waste of time. It was more drawing practice.

I’ve just listed it as a printable - check it out here - so if you or anyone you know is in a massive panic & needs a last minute save, then printables for the win! You can see the digital file and the print can get sorted when everything gets back to normal…

I created all the listing images on a long drive to here in DC and I’m proud of them too. So here they are…

Code MEOWMEOW will get you 22% off on this journal (& a range of other printables in the store)

The way through conflict

Another thing about journaling - it’s the save when I’m in moments of heightened emotions.

On the same 6-hour car ride (that I put together the above), I had an intense moment of conflict with family. It left me with some hard feelings that were difficult to manage, and I was trapped in a car.

Desperately emotional, not able to climb out of the feelings and circling around the same ideas and sensations of hurt for about an hour, I then had the brainwave to open my notebook and write it down.

It moved through my arm, onto the page, and got out of my head and my body.

Journaling is a way of organising your thoughts, witnessing yourself. Having a deep conversation with yourself.

It’s got me through some very tough times this year.

So - here is my art.

An ode to the power of journaling…

… that has spawned from journaling…

… and may it continue, into the long, cold, winter night…

Happy Solstice times.

✨❄️🌞✨