Catching up

Where have the last five days gone? I seem to have spent each day either tremendously busy and frantically rushing to catch up, or falling asleep on the spot. Today has been a good day so far. It is 4pm and to date I have done the following:

• Stumbled under the shower at 7.30am with the alarm ringing in my ears
• Showered, pilled and potioned
• Morning Pages – a device to help writers – see later
• Quiet Time
• Breakfast
• Planning Meeting with HBTW
• Paperclog – or rather the worst of it. You can now see the desk
• Sorting out old shopping catalogues
• Morning cappuccino – being a near food this is a highlight of the morning
• Cleaning bathroom – made better by the knowledge that HBTW is cleaning the shower room at the same time.
• Changing beds
• Lunch – more food, Yum!
• 30mins sit down
• Energetic walk with dog

Now I am nearly collapsed, but as I remember I promised to tell you about Morning Pages. This is a device recommended by Julia Cameron in her books about creativity, particularly in writing. Sometimes writers (and bloggers) go through a period of writer’s block; times when it is difficult to commit anything to the page or screen. Cameron suggests that first thing every morning, the writer sits with a hard-backed exercise book or journal and writes whatever comes into their head onto the page. (I call it splatting.)

You can start with – woke up, got up, feeling weary…….. or more unlikely for me: woke up, jumped out of bed, singing along with the larks. Huh! Then the idea is that you simply carry on splatting onto the page for as much of the three pages as you can manage. It’s similar to a device recommended by bloggers, ie sit at the screen and write whatever comes into your head, remembering you can delete the rubbish.

Interestingly, after commentators agreeing that the Julia Roberts character in the film is self-absorbed, I seem to be recommending a technique that is all about the self. Julia Cameron’s thesis, which develops throughout her books are all about clearing the diary to make a date with the self, looking around with a new awareness, living the adventure that’s there and so forth. More something you do in middle age as part of an awareness course, but there is some good advice, particularly in looking around and being thankful for creation. The advantage of doing all of this in the context of a Meditation or Quiet Time, is that we can allow ourselves to know we are loved by God, Being, Spirit….. whatever is your sense of the universe.

I seem to be getting away into drivel now, so I shall stop and simply wish you, Dear Reader, Every Blessing.