Evening insights: a micro-journalling idea
When I was younger, I was an avid journal keeper. My first diary had Strawberry Shortcake on the cover; as a teen I liked to start from the last page and glue things in like bus tickets and movie passes. In my twenties, though, I gave up my journals. I’d been burned a few times by people reading them without my permission, and I also had to admit that keeping up with them was impossible when I had a new baby.
I’ve resisted going back to the practice in part because, as a writer, I felt pressure (from myself) to say something smart and worthwhile, and to be honest, I don’t always have anything smart and worthwhile to say!
Last year, however, I read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and decided to take up her suggestion (more of an order, really) to write Morning Pages. You can read more about that here:
This skeptic is trying not to be too skeptical
For years I’ve heard writers mention “morning pages.” I knew the idea was attributed to author Julia Cameron. I understood the practice as a way to clear some of the mental junk out of your head before getting down to your “real” writing. I’ve even recommended similar activities to clients as part of their pre-writ…
I’ve kept up with the morning pages for ten months now and I really enjoy them, in large part because they’re definitely not meant to be GOOD. You get all the junky thoughts out, ask questions, write about nothing, whatever you want. This helps set you up to do more clear-headed work throughout the day.
Cameron specifically warns against turning these into evening pages, e.g., doing them before bed. In her opinion, you’re likely to just record the events of the day and possibly ruminate on them too much.
Thus far I’ve obeyed her directive but I do find myself having the urge to do some written reflection at the end of the day. So, I’ve started writing a few lines of what I call “evening insights.”
Without writing down any details about what happened during the day, I simply jot down two or three sentences reflecting on what I learned (or, as is most often the case, re-learned).
These aren’t usually profound insights, but more like the kind of everyday reminders we somehow seem to need about how to function as a person:
It’s good to slow down and double check.
You can change your mind about things.
You can’t fix other people.
And so on.
Nothing earth-shattering here. Useful, though, because isn’t it the case that we can read about or hear some great advice that seems to speak so directly to us, and then promptly forget about it? This little micro-journalling practice is helping me to recall some of these useful tidbits with the hope that they’ll actually embed themselves in my conscious mind one of these days.
If you’re also someone who doesn’t feel like they have much time, or inclination, to keep detailed journals, but still knows they would benefit from a few dedicated moments of reflection, maybe this kind of micro-journalling could be for you. It can, of course, be about anything; feel free to steal “evening insights,” though, if that works for you!
What I’m reading: The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir, by Griffin Dunne.
What I’m watching: Just One Look, on Netflix. This is more violent than the usual Harlan Coben-based miniseries, and I am not enjoying that aspect of it. :(