I begin each morning with a cup of strong black coffee. I gather my morning tools. My journal, a pen, my kindle all ready for beginning.
For over 20 years my days have begun this way. There were a few years when my heart couldn’t speak on pages in the morning, but now that isolation time from myself is over and I put pen to page.
I remember my first journal. It was diary-like, yellow flowers on the cover and even a snapping lock on the side to keep the words safe. I began that journal with a bucket list. It was a time of change in my life and the journal allowed me to think further than the moments I was living.
My current journal is leather. It’s cocoa brown, so soft and yet textured. It was a souvenior from my favorite Maui coffee shop, Java Jazz. A women drinking coffee graces the front (how cool is that). The words etched into the front are, “Think Good, Say Good, Do Good”. Great mantras for the beginning of a new day. This journal began on April 1st.
Each morning I write one page. I date the upper right-hand corner and note where I am geographically that day.
My ‘morning pages’ (ala Julia Cameron) reflect the weather, what I’m thinking about, what I’ve done or what I might do.Like a child’s diary it notes where I am in the world. Unlike the child diary, it becomes a meditation for me. I read from a different daily book each year. Last year it was Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance. This year it’s Melody Beattie’s Journey of the Heart. I pause and listen for the message for the day. Quotes or thoughts on the meditation are noted on the left side of the page.
But alas, this Maui Java Jazz journal is coming to an end already. There is only about a quarter of an inch of pages remaining.
I need to have the next journal on hand. I need it to feel safe that there is a place for future words. But discovering the perfect”next” journal is always a process.
Standing in Half Price Books yesterday I searched for the new one. Like Goldilocks some journals are just too small, some are too big like blank sketch books. I fondled over 20 types of journals, listening with my fingers and my heart.
A friend said that it would be cheaper and easier to just use the classroom notebooks we took to school. They’re only 15 cents on sale and can record whatever needs to be said. Oh my…I guess, but that’s when I realized how selection of the journal begins a piece of my life.
I found the new journal. It was way down on the bottom shelf. There were four different ones on the far left side, one called “Balance”, one called “Focus”, one called “Good Karma”. All worthy titles and thoughts for the next part of this year. The one that spoke most to me was called “The Power of Affirmations”. It reminded me of how powerful affirmations are and how I can see so many just within the cover that I will be inspired to create my own.
My soul and fingers sing with my new journal today. It sits on the table, underneath the current one, waiting to be called into action.
My life, my daily daring adventure will be chronicled within the tan lined pages. I am safe, I found the new journal.
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