Um... Oops!

Recently, my husband and I traveled down to my in-laws to house sit for them while they're away in Mexico. They live about an hour away from our home, and it took some time to pack everything I would need while away--Walking in this World by Julia Cameron, my folder containing many helpful blog entries from Mari's blog (both guest posts and Mari's posts) as well as We Are All Writers, my journal, my computer, etc.--and during this process, it appears that my copy of Mari's Most Musefull Journaling Tips did not end up making the journey. Because of school, I will be returning home on Sunday and so can easily update this blog then instead of today. However, I didn't want to simply leave my readers dangling and wondering why I hadn't updated. So, here's an update!

Yes, I wrote in my journal daily every single day this week. Was it hard to find time? To think of something to write? To just get up and do it before my daughter woke up? Yes, yes, yes.

Time is a precious commodity that I often enjoy wasting on trivial things (like The Sims 3), but I have set out a specific schedule of writing my journal, reading Walking in this World, and working on my novel (as well as my blogs). I have been following this schedule as much as I possibly can, and it's quite a joy to wake up and know that some parts of my life are scheduled, that I can control some of what I do.

Thinking of something to write is a problem I face often enough to be considered an annoying problem but still not quite frequently enough to which I can't ever find something to write. Lately, We Are All Writers and Walking in this World by Julia Cameron has been giving me more than enough to write. My new average for journaling is about 3-4 pages. It used to be a paragraph. So, there are ways to get around this idea that we have nothing to write. Hell, Google "fun quotes" and just pick one that tickles your fantasy.

My daughter enjoys a sporadic wake and sleep schedule. Usually, she sleeps at 10 and can wake anywhere from 6 to 10 (whenever the fancy might strike her). It has become evident to me that my daughter has been leaning more toward an 8am wake-up call, sometimes 9 at the latest. Most days, I get up at 8:30 to journal. This will obviously have to change as her schedule changes too, but she's still asleep at the moment and it's 9:43 as I write this. Granted, she went to bed closer to midnight last night because everyone was hyped up about leaving for Mexico (except, of course, my husband and I who aren't going, and my father-in-law who was sleeping since he was going to have to drive).

Anyway, so that's my update so you all know why there's no journaling tip post. When I get home on Sunday, it will be the first thing I do.

Journal Tip #2: The Miracle Worker

Because of copyright laws, etc., I don't want to post the quotes and actual journal tips in my blog. Instead, you can find 100+ free journaling tips from Mari here, and you can buy the same journal I am using here. 

"The cure is here, the healing has begun!"

 I honestly LOVE how much better I feel when I journal daily. I love how it helps me through the day and helps me better schedule my life. Do you know what? Unless I journal on a daily basis, the rest of my day is a complete modge podge of CRAP. With daily journaling, I really do feel like I'm going through a healing. Journaling is my cure. Journaling gets me up and gets me started. It helps me clear my mind to understand what I have to do for the day. It's even helped with writing my novel because it pulls all of the distractions out of my brain and puts them onto paper, beautiful journal paper with black flowers.

Writing about how I FEEL about this journaling experience:

I absolutely loved this experience because it was something very true to how I feel about journaling. Journaling helps me with everything--my depression, my family life, schoolwork, my novel, and my love with my husband. In fact, journaling is so important to me that I want to share it with my husband. It's too bad that he's often too busy with games to even listen to me, but such is life.