Julia Cameron’s 1992 nationally best-selling book “The Artist’s Way” pledges a “higher path to spiritual creativity”. Whether or not you consider yourself an artist, the most favoured exercise in the book “Morning Pages” has helped thousands of people.
It claims to help people work through trauma, overcome addictions, strengthen relationships, and create breakthroughs. It encourages accountability for where you currently are, where you want to go, and how you plan on getting there.
By taking the path of morning pages, you can help your emotional, mental, spiritual, and overall well-being. Committing yourself to the practice may seem daunting at first but has proven for so many to be well worth the adherence.
If you’ve been curious about how or why you should begin the practice of morning pages, read on. Learn how a simple morning practice can drastically change your life for the better.
Boosts Creativity-
Wouldn’t we all like to consider ourselves creatives? Even if you’re in a more traditional and “logical” field of work like law or medicine, being a more creative individual can help you to come up with solutions and solve problems you otherwise might’ve not considered a possibility.
If you’re a creative individual and/or work in a creative field then flexing your creativity muscles will always be of benefit. Most of us think that creativity is something you’re either blessed with or not. However, this isn’t true.
Creativity is something that can be strengthened with some effort and perseverance. Sticking to the practice daily, even when you’re not in the mood or are tired can deliver breakthroughs for you, sometimes when you least expect it.
Creative Flow-
We’re often under the impression that creativity shouldn’t be forced and should flow when it’s ready. Again, this just isn’t true. Realistically, how many times have you been hit with a wave of inspiration? If we wait for these waves to crash into us we could be waiting forever and never start that business, write that book, or help others the way we wish we could.
Even when the vibes aren’t perfectly right, we need to take matters into our own hands and give inspiration a little nudge in the right direction. Maybe it isn’t perfect or exactly what we’ve had in mind but it’s a start.
Businesswoman Marie Forleo has the perfect mantra for when you’re beginning a new project. If you feel underwhelmed that it hasn’t yet lived up to your magical standards, repeat “humble, shitty & good enough”. Our best work typically isn’t our first work. Morning pages can help you to get out of your head and get started on whatever you want to achieve in life.
Notebook-
It’s ideal to buy a separate, cheap 8×11.5 standard notebook. You can get this from your local dollar store. Unless you feel like shelling out big bucks for something you’re not supposed to reread and will likely contain chicken scratch. This notebook should preferably be kept solely for morning pages and not get mixed up with your to-do list or monthly budgeting notes.
This method is exclusively meant to be done through free-form, longhand writing with a traditional pen and paper. Not your notes app or typing on a computer. This is a good idea considering how we already spend enough of our time staring at screens.
Speed isn’t the goal here, longhand writing is a slower process but will force you to think differently. Backspacing isn’t an option, messy, raw, and unedited is the goal.
This whole process should take around 20 minutes to complete to fill three full 8×11.5 notebook pages. No double spacing is allowed and fill the entire page.
For Your Eyes Only-
Don’t show these pages to anyone. Not even yourself. Especially in the first two months, it’s not recommended that you go back and reread what you’ve written. This practice isn’t meant to propel the idea for your next New York Times bestseller.
It’s meant for you to gain a greater understanding of yourself and where you’re at currently. To cipher through the inner workings of your mind, notice patterns, conclude, and come up with solutions.
If you feel like someone will read them or that they must be a great work of art, then you’ll subconsciously censor yourself and you won’t reap the full benefits. Keep these pages somewhere private and hidden or toss them out when you’re finished.
If you feel like there’s some gold in there and you can’t justify losing it, highlight, or index the page. If you’re super curious and believe rereading in the future will provide some benefit then feel free after around the two-month mark.
Do First Thing-
Cameron strongly recommends that this exercise be done first thing in the morning. Even if that means waking up 30 minutes earlier than your usual time. When we first awake, our ego voice and inner critic tend to be silent, so they won’t bother or interrupt you as much.
Our thoughts are much more authentic first thing in the morning. Not yet conformed to what we think society or the world needs us to be. Getting enough sleep is insanely important for your overall health so if you can, try to head to bed a little bit earlier to adjust for your earlier wakeup call.
Your morning routine might already be swamped with a gym session, meditation session, or preparing children for the day. Some of you might already be “waking up earlier” to complete other morning wellness tasks. If possible, mix things around to different times of the day for a couple of weeks if you can and you’d like to see how the power of morning pages can positively affect you.
While it might seem like a lot to deal with first thing in the morning, try the practice out for a month or so and see if it’s worth including in your routine. You might notice positive results in more or less time.
Every Day-
This practice is not a come-and-go type of exercise it will require persistence. Whether it’s Monday, Friday, or Saturday, results are best achieved through consistency. Mornings can be tough. If you’ve slept through your alarm and missed the morning mark then you can do it later in the day.
While ideally this practice should be done first thing, don’t skip the whole day if you missed the morning. Getting it done at a different time is much better than not doing it at all. We begin to trust ourselves and build confidence when we can keep our promises to ourselves and see things through.
Cheaper than Therapy-
Traditional therapy is still recommended but if you’re struggling with finding the right therapist, the cost, or the time it takes to attend then morning pages are a much cheaper and quicker alternative.
Therapy is figuring out things in your life and past and how they’ve affected you. You learn your thoughts, behaviours, and patterns and figure out how to navigate through them in a healthy way.
Morning pages can promise a lot of similar clarifications. Don’t be afraid to dive deep, you might look at things from a completely new perspective that you haven’t before.
Ask yourself probing questions like how did the things in your childhood shape how you respond to the world today? Or what relationship patterns do you seem to repeat and what are these repetitive lessons trying to teach you? Again, this is not to tell you to break up with your therapist but can be a great addition or temporary substitute.
Don’t Judge Yourself-
Your morning pages are a 100% judgment-free zone. Don’t think too hard about what you’re going to write or judge yourself for having a negative thought. This should be completely your space and your space alone to work through whatever you need to.
Conclusion-
Writing daily morning pages first thing in the morning promises a heap of benefits. Your mental, emotional, spiritual, and overall well-being should increase when you commit to the magic of morning pages. This should be done by writing three full, single-spaced 8×11.5 pages of longhand free-form writing when you first wake up.
Keep this practice sacred and to yourself to brain-dump everything you need onto the pages. You’ll notice that your mind is much clearer and less cluttered throughout the day.
You might even experience huge mental, emotional, spiritual, or creative breakthroughs by sticking with it daily. Keep your morning pages as a judgment-free zone and watch what clarity you receive.
After doing this for a month or two, reassess what knowledge you’ve learned and if any positive changes have occurred. If it has, keep it up and fit it into your schedule to gain an even greater understanding of yourself, and your goals and strengthen your relationships with yourself and others.
Hopefully, you gain greater knowledge and understanding from continuing to pursue your morning pages.
