As a frequent reader and guest blogger to Mari, I have the pleasure of being asked about what my journaling looks like at any given moment in time. It is a blessing, because I must ponder, and we avid journaling souls, we like to ponder, don’t we?
So I will tell you. For a couple of years now, I have been working on “seeing.” Brought to my attention by Michael Singer‘s book The Untethered Soul, a look at how to embrace universal consciousness, and in simplest terms for my own understanding, to simply “see” what is showing up in my life, and then do, or not do.
A lot of what I “see” comes at me via print. For example, writer of a recent article in Philadelphia Magazine, Christine Speer Lejeune mentions how Martin Short gives himself a grade at the end of every year for 9 areas of life. “Seeing” this, while in my comfy-cozy-cushy-journaling spot, I tested myself, listing the categories and my grades in my journal along with explanations. Another example is what most recently connected me to Mari. I read an email from WOW, an organization I admire and from whom I solicit expert critiques, and read/“saw” that Mari released a new book. As a result, I ordered it for a resource to my clients, and first, I am reading it and using her journaling prompts myself.
I also “see” what I’ve written previously in my own journals. It happens naturally - I’ll sense the need to look back, often in the current journal, but sometimes further back. I wrote about this practice in my memoir and guide about spiritual journaling, that looking back is where the magic happens. A recent example is that I “saw” a water bug in my house three times in one week and journaled about each encounter. Each time was a little different, but essentially my behavior was to pick it up and put it outside. “Seeing” these little excerpts prompted a poem.
Some “seeing” comes from writing about my own experiences. Gratitude entry, October 23, 2021….”when I breathe and sit calmly, the answers for the crossword puzzle come - I couldn’t get many in the beginning, but once I changed my mindset, the answers came.” With journaling, considering one’s own behaviors happens naturally.
I also “see” what roadblocks I’m running into, and I move away from them. Two examples: one, I “see” that a website checkout page isn’t working, so I don’t try again and again to make a purchase, I simply let go of the idea completely and “see” what replaces it or doesn’t; two, I recently tried to create cards because someone said “you should,” but the creativity didn’t come readily, so I set it aside. Setting it aside might be forever, or the right time, space and specifics may come with ease.
Sometimes I “see” that my day starts fast and I never sit down to journal. That happens and I let it. But most days I “see” my journaling spot and I sit and “know” which practice to begin: write gratitude list for points of yesterday, read someone else’s writing, look back at my own and whatever the practice, it leads me to write.
DETERMINATION
I set the water
Bug outside in a Kleenex
It comes back inside
I hope this glimpse gives you some insight. Happy journaling and magical happenings!
Author bio: Marie Higgins left corporate America after more than 15 years in human resources management to pursue life. Before long she found massage-therapy and became a nationally certified, state licensed massage therapist. At the same time, she felt a partial hardening of the heart, figuratively and spiritually, so she found a spiritual coach to help, and became an active journaling person. Included in her journals are the gratitude lists that helped her heart soften and moved her to write poetry. In 2017 she included these poems in her debut book, Sprouting Spiritual Growth: A Memoir and a Guide to Spiritual Journaling (Amazon). Since then Marie maintains a journaling practice that includes writing poetry whenever inspiration strikes. Marie lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband, two young adult children and an active foxhound.
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