Tag: Creativity

Journaling

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desk empty fountain pen notebook
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I have been journaling every day for the last 15 years. No two days of journaling have been the same. There are of course journal purists who say that only our deepest reflections should be placed in our journal. I have a very different point of view. My journaling serves many purposes and continues to evolve.

Over the last few years my journal has acted as a daily reminder to awaken and appreciate my life.  Every day, I list 5 gratitudes, 5 positive things about myself and 5 joys in my life. Each of these is written in consecutive order. That means each category has over three thousand entries. When I see positives, joys or gratitudes numbering in the thousands, the sheer volume of it can help me shake off a temporary setback. Of course certain entries are oft repeated because they continue to have an uplifting affect on my life.

 Even if I write nothing else for that day’s journal entry, this practice initiates a positive trajectory for the rest of the day. What usually happens is that a daily entry touches a chord and I will expand on a gratitude, positive trait or joy in my writings.

I also use my journal for those times when something occurs which knocks me off center. Whenever that happens I reach for my journal and record my thoughts. Initially, my comments are often about how I have been “wronged” or “treated unfairly.” Just being able to vent my feelings helps me to begin to distance myself from the upset. With that distance I begin to gain perspective and am often able to write about how aspects of my behavior were inappropriate. I often conclude with a written commitment to make amends where necessary or to change my behavior in the future.

There will of course be times where my journal entry will be deeply reflective. Often this takes the form of an open ended question regarding some aspect of my life. I will then put my pen down and contemplate that question. What often happens is that after a few minutes answers begin to form in my mind and I resume writing. I really do believe that the answers I receive as part of this process come from a Higher Place.

On a more mundane level my journal is a reservoir of phone numbers, snippets of ideas for articles, creative doodling (zentangle) and anything else which needs to be found at a later date.

Ultimately I journal because I love to write and bring my thoughts into a paper and pen reality.

Journal Writing — Tools Of The Trade

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“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen of course. Ball point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.” —Graham Greene

Like most people in our current society, technology is a major part of my life. My IPhone allows me to listen to music nonstop, practice deep guided meditations, buy and sell stocks and of course speak and text with people. I wrote my book, Insights from the Rooms on my IPad. Ditto for my blog of the same name. I am currently writing this post for Pasta on a Wall using my IPad. 

Yet, on my nightstand you will find a fountain pen and a journal for daily writing. And not any journal mind you. It is manufactured by Clairefontaine, a French paper company started in 1858. It is a 90gsm paper. GSM stands for grams per square meter. The higher the gsm, the thicker the paper. Clairfontaine paper with a 90gsm is a fountain pen friendly paper. That means that when you use a fountain pen it will not “feather” or bleed through to the other side of the page. The paper in my journal is smooth, soft to the touch and substantial.

There is probably a good chance that some of you reading this post will have never had the opportunity to use a fountain pen. I guarantee you that it will change how you write forever. First the aesthetics. Fountain pens are beautiful to behold. They come in an inexhaustible choice of materials, patterns, nibs, shapes and sizes. You can spend as little as $3 on a Varsity Pilot disposal fountain pen (a great first pen) to multiple thousands for pens manufactured by companies like Omas, Visconti or Montblanc. Part of the pleasure of fountain pens is choosing one that resonates with you. My current go to pen for journaling is the TWSBI white with rose  gold demonstrator; a pen that allows you to see the ink supply through the body of the pen. And of course there are hundreds of inks to choose from.

There is something magical about writing with a fountain pen. Because of its nature of ink flow, it forces you to slow down your writing. Suddenly you begin to create more beautiful letters and words with an upturned line here and an additional flourish there. Your pen glides across the paper with almost no resistance; causing your thoughts to glide from your mind to your pen without resistance.

On a deeper level I believe utilizing an instrument from the past like a fountain pen taps into the flow of energy of all those who came before and wrote in this manner. The ballpoint pen has little history, while the fountain pen has been used for hundreds of years. 

If you envision squirting ink all over yourself, relax. The fountain pens of today are easy to use and to refill. You can even get them with disposable cartridges. 

Journaling is a highly personal experience. Make it even more so with a thoughtful choice of fountain pen and a high quality journal paper.

The Power of Books

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“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” —Mortimer J. Adler

Every so often, we read a book which “gets through” to us. It’s the book that we begin to underline passages that have meaning for us. The one that has our little notes in the margins making short observations about what we’ve read. The one that we start quoting from when we’re engaged in a deep conversation with someone.

This will be the first of a number of entries about books which created change in my life. My first choice for my booklist is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is a book about creativity. 

As she points out all of us have that “aha moment” for a book, a painting, a song, a new business venture or a myriad number of other creative ventures. We feel energized and excited about this newfound opportunity. And then as so often happens we keep pushing it off or delay our start date.

Then one day to our dismay we discover that someone else has written that book, painted that painting or started “our” business venture. What happened? Ms. Gilbert believes that initial inspiration of creativity comes from a Higher Place. Its visit to you is a gift. But, it doesn’t stick around forever. When you don’t follow up, it lingers for a period of time and then lands at someone else’s doorstep. When they grasp it and run with it a new creative idea or object enters the universe. You lost your claim to it.

In my life I have been graced with a number of creative moments which I neglected. Then I read Big Magic. At about the same time I had the idea to write about the Twelve Step Program. Instead of going back to a state of sleep, I decided to blog about it. Mind you I had never blogged before. That very day I started my blog, Insights from the Rooms (insightsfromtherooms.com). Then, the idea popped into my head to blog every single day without fail for a year. I honored that commitment which in retrospect amazes me that I was able to do so. Along the way I had thousands of hits on my blog from all over the world.

After a few years of blogging, I was graced with another creative moment and decided to turn my blog posts into a book. Though there was initially some inertia over this I finally did commit to an editor, then a book designer and finally a publisher. In April of 2019, my book Insights from the Rooms was released (https://www.amazon.com/dp/173299420X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_3FU-CbHYDS191).

That my friends is Big Magic