October 10th was World Mental Health Day. Most of us are far more aware of mental health issues since the beginning of the Covid crisis. The one good thing from Covid is that we are learning to prioritize mental health. So, at this point we understand that mental health is a critical aspect of a healthy lifestyle and are looking for ways to actively incorporate self-care into our daily routines. This is where we run into information overload. You can find books, videos, podcasts, social media channels, and apps for the low, low, price of…you get it. It has become monetized.
So, what does a law librarian have to offer on the subject? I’m going to give you a couple resources at the end because that’s my job, but I’m also going to tell you about morning pages and how I use them as a self-care tool that I highly recommend.
Morning Pages is a concept created by Julia Cameron which she wrote about in her book The Artist’s Way. Her idea is simple. Every morning, write three pages of stream-of-consciousness in longhand format – yes, paper and pen or pencil. That’s it. There are two processes at play as you engage in writing morning pages. The first is that you are engaging your mind and your hands in the physical world which is slower and requires more thought than typing. The other aspect is that you are clearing your mind of anything that is blocking you from being creative. (You might be thinking that you are not creative, but you are – creativity is everywhere, we just need to acknowledge it.) And I would argue that although though she designed this concept for artist’s, it can apply to everyone.
Five years ago, when I first heard about this concept, I dabbled in it, I felt bad that I wrote “evening pages” not “morning pages”, I didn’t know what to write so I didn’t write three full pages, oh and I was busy. As the Covid lock-down began and it felt like the world was ending, I got more serious about the work and began writing a full three pages – on the days that I remembered to do it which was more than in the Before Times. It completely dropped off my radar last fall when my father became ill. After he passed, I picked up the tool again with a serious intention to integrate into my daily life and I have used it every day since. In the past six months, as I have more consciously engaged with morning pages, I’ve come to several revelations about how I use them, and why I think everyone should give them a try.
- Write any time – Ok, so you can’t do it in the morning, fine, do it when you can.
- Write anything – Whatever is on your mind is the thing you need to write about. It’s the thing using up the processing power of your brain. You need to write about it so you can figure out what you think about that topic. It’s not a journal, it’s a tool to help you work out your thoughts. (The tag line for the Leuchtturm brand of journals is “Denken mit der Hand” – thinking with your hand – this is exactly the point of the morning pages.)
- Again, write anything – Write anything at all, there are no content rules. if you are inspired to outline that article, do it here while it’s on your mind. If you need to write poetry, do it here. If you need to figure out why you keep dreaming about missing the school bus, write it down.
- Keep post-its on hand – I find that most weekdays, I am thinking about my work and what I need to accomplish so I keep post-it notes nearby to write down anything that needs to be transferred to planner or calendar.
- Don’t read what you wrote – It’s not a work of art. It’s not a journal for posterity. It’s a tool for that specific day.
- Add a gratitude list – Noting what you are grateful for can help keep you more positive.
There is no wrong way to do morning pages. Taking the time to work through your thoughts is what makes this tool so useful. If it helps, think of this as an organizational project where you work out the clutter in your mind so you can have a productive day. Try it for a while and see if it works for you. And, I’m always looking for recommendations for quality writing tools and journals so email me at lja10@psu.edu if you have a recommendation.
Resources:
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron held by Penn State Libraries
Other Books by Julia Cameron held by Penn State Libraries
Morning Pages explained by Julia Cameron