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Deeter
Art Gallery ~ "How
To Be An Artist" Workshops|
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"How To Be An Artist"
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Journaling to Enhance Creativity
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Journaling is a "journey" inside yourself! Find a quiet place away from distractions. Write 3 full pages each morning. It is important to make a habit of journaling. It takes 21 days to create a habit … make yourself journal for 21 days straight, and it will become a good habit. Mark the days off on your calendar if you need to. Use inexpensive lined paper and a pen that feels good in your hand and writes smooth. Write all the way to the edges of the paper … there are no boundaries when journaling! If you can’t think of anything to get started … write down sounds you hear, things you did yesterday, people you talked to, what you’ll do on your next vacation, what’s the weather like, what happened at work, what you had for dinner … ask yourself questions … compliment yourself! Journaling is for you and ONLY you! No one is allowed to read your journal pages … not even YOU! Do not go back and read what you’ve written. When you are finished, toss it or shred it. Write anything that pops into your head … good or bad … you are simply "dumping" your thoughts on paper to declutter your mind to make room for the creative process. Sometimes you’ll write the same thing over & over for days … that’s OK because it’s something that is cluttering your mind and it needs to be dumped. Your mind is very much like the hard drive on your computer … it stores things in memory that you may not even know is there. Many things in your memory are good, but there’s also clutter there. Journaling helps rid you of the clutter and clears your mind for creativity! You may write your thoughts, concerns, worries, frustrations, dreams, wishes, ideas, things that make you happy, things that make you mad or sad, things that you said and wish you hadn’t … things you didn’t say and wish you had … ANYTHING GOES! Don’t worry about spelling … it doesn’t matter! Don’t worry about grammar … you are not writing a flowery novel … and you are not writing your life history for future generations to read. (If you do want to keep a life history journal, get one of the pretty bound ones and write ONLY things you wish others to read.) If you’ve accomplished something you are really proud of … write it down … it’s like a pat on the back! If you are frustrated about something … write it down … it helps to get it off your mind! If you need to … keep a separate "list" of things you need to do or things you want to remember … this also helps free up your brain for creativity. 2004 © Linda Deeter |