A Chocolate Brownie???

I love to journal.

I start a majority of my days with journal writing.  I use a method I learned in an excellent book titled, The Artist’s Way.  The author, Julia Cameron, offers something she calls, “Morning Pages.”

In a nutshell, it’s a Stream of Consciousness style of writing.  Stated more simply, you write what you’re thinking.  One thought, then the next and the next.

This means that sometimes I write, “Wow, it’s a beautiful morning,” “It smells like rain,” or “Dang, it was difficult to get up this morning.  Or, my grocery list.  Yes, sometimes it’s my grocery list.  Regardless, there’s not a lot of meat there and definitely no material for my second book.

It may also mean I write, “I recognize fear when I think about doing that,” whatever “that” happens to be in the moment.  These things are more insightful and foster my personal growth.  They connect me more deeply with God.

Most days it’s some combination of the two.

I love my days when I dive deep and discover a meaningful insight.  A “revelation” my husband would call it.

But I never know at the beginning which one I will experience that day.

Until I write.

I must begin the process of writing, and keep writing, in order to discover if it will be a day of “beautiful morning” and “rain” or one of deeper, more meaningful insights.

Oftentimes in life, you may want to know how something is going to turn out before you start the process or take any steps.  You may ask yourself questions like,

• Will this work?

• Is this the answer I’m looking for?

• Will doing this thing create the results I desire?

But the only way to know the answer is to start.  Take some steps, assess, revise, take more steps.

There will be times you’ll find it’s best to stop and change your path. That’s O.K.  Take some time to go for a walk; stare at a wall; or eat a chocolate brownie (my personal favorite) and revise your plans.

Other times, you’ll discover, “This is exactly what I’ve been searching for.”   Do it.  (And still eat the chocolate brownie!)

The one unfortunate truth that can be hard to accept is this:  You won’t know if it’s the “right” answer until you try.

There are many mornings I wonder, “Why am I even writing today?”

Then suddenly my hand is gliding across the page and words are flowing.  And then, boom, there it is.  The exact insight I need.

Because I started by writing one word.  And then wrote the next.

No chocolate brownie required.

Just coffee.