Daily Pages
Each day, I make a sincere effort to journal using two distinct pages. One is a weekly page that allows me to track daily and weekly habits on one side and to reflectively plan for the week on the reverse. The other is dated blank page that provides space for writing down memories, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and initial interpretations of my day. I say initial, because even through the lens of contemplative examination, I want to hold open the possibility that a more nuanced and anchored understanding of the experience might emerge through my ongoing practice and meditation.
When I write, aside from brief corrections when I misfire with my pen, I don’t edit while I’m reflecting. I simply let whatever flows from the pen land on the page and trust that what I have added is essential in some way, and that what I have already forgotten is not something I should worry about.
This is less about making sense of what I have experienced than it is about documenting my experience and providing mile markers that I can use to ponder later, though not forever as rumination is not the same thing as meditation. In fact, I have made a practice of looking over things within the quarter in which I write them, and then I recycle the removable pages from my journal like the temporary art of a sand mandala. Each new quarter brings a chance to be present with what is happening now while gently setting down the work of what has gone before. In my experience, that which is going to resurface over time, simply will if I give space in the silence.
I really enjoy the analog experience of writing with pen and paper, and while I try not to accumulate endless journals or notebooks, I do keep my daily pages separate from my planner, my poetry/prayer journal, and my meeting notes. I prefer the focus that comes with having fewer purposes in one set of pages, though you may want to experiment with the system that works best for you.
Practice:
Here are some tips for beginning your own daily pages journal.
- Decide how many purposes this journal will have, fewer total uses might allow for greater focus.
- Blank pages or bullet pages offer the greatest flexibility for laying out a single day
- You may want to find inserts or a page layout for a habit tracker/weekly look ahead to remind you of your intentions for the week
- Don’t edit or revise while writing. Your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and initial impressions are worthy in their own right.
- Make a plan for what to do with your journal when it is full? Will you save it? For how long? How can you hold these first impressions loosely and allow the Spirit to continue its work in you?
- Don’t panic if you miss a page. There’s a really good chance that you chose the most necessary thing instead. Return to the practice as soon as you can, and with grace and gentleness.
Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.
Peace and Everything Good,
The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care
https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef