It is, perhaps, the easiest and the hardest way to self-discovery.

Easy, because it’s simple.

Hard, because to really be effective, it’s a discipline. And who in the world thinks that any discipline is anything other than, well, hard?

But it really can be life-transforming.

Pen and paper. Or, if you prefer, screen and pixel. You could get all fancy and take out the calligraphy pen and the ink bottle, if that’s your jam.

But the tools aren’t really that important.

It’s the doing that’s important.

I’m speaking of journaling. Of course.

Journaling.

Which a lot of us start up ‘round about January first, and give up on ‘round about January fourth. Or seventh. Or, if we’re really determined, the fifteenth.

We know that it’s a good thing to do. At least we think it’s a good thing to do. I mean, it really sounds like a good thing to do. Writing that stream-of-consciousness stuff. It really sort of sounds like we’ll be having epiphanies every day, learning who – and what – we really are. And maybe even more important, who – and what – we aren’t. We long for this, truth be told. We want to discover life-changing or life-affirming truth. About ourselves and about our lives and about what’s really most important. And we want to find this wisdom every day of the year, mind you. Not just for a couple weeks after we ring in the new.

The truth is, we won’t. Epiphanies happen, of course, but not every day. (Can you imagine how exhausting that would be?).

But they do happen.

Change just takes time. Just like when you start running or walking or taking an hour to lift some weights or taking some time to do some planks – you’re not going to see results every day.

But you will see them, if you keep at it.

If you’re disciplined.

And that, of course, takes faith.

Faith that doing that half-hour walk every day when I could be doing something else so much more fun, is going to be worth it in the end.

Faith that these planks (which are so hard) are really going to build those core muscles.

Faith that lifting these 5, 3, 10, 2-pound dumbbells over and over are actually doing something for me.

Faith that the act of journaling – thoughts, feelings, despair or delight – or even just those random bits that flit through my brain (maybe even especially those) will lead me somewhere.

I’m really wanting to tell you – they will.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” So said William Wordsworth and even if you don’t know who he was, he’s put a world of wisdom in that line.

But I really have to tell you, that faith without works (pardon the Biblical reference if it’s not your jam, and I’m paraphrasing. Obviously.) won’t really get any of us anywhere.

So, what to do?

Write. Every day.

Specifically, a set number of words, or pages if you prefer.

Commit to it. Set aside the time for it. Or stay up a little late for it. Or get up a little early.

Me? I chose a thousand. A thousand words every day. One thousand words that are sometimes very deep and sometimes just a laundry list of the things that I really have to get done. And to be honest, are sometimes just a laundry list of complaints. Stream-of-consciousness writing can pretty much go anywhere. Which is okay.

Because sometimes? Sometimes a nugget or two or wisdom slips in, in those laundry lists. Not always. But sometimes.

And sometimes?

That nugget is life-transforming.

~xo,
LuAnne

tweetables:

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” (~William Wordsworth)