Rise to the occasion

Notes from a different drummer

Learning the unforced rhythms of grace.

The practical How
Soul nurturing

• Wake-up notes

So let’s get started. For this game of hide-and-seek we need some writing paper and a pen or pencil, crayon, or whatever takes your fancy to write  with. Now, don’t take fright. This is no writer’s course. We are into soul nurturing, into seeking out the hidden child within. Only the most gentle and undemanding probing will be met with a favourable response.

 So we start off by listening, pen in hand and paper to catch the sounds on.

Julia Cameron, writer of The Artist’s Way is famous for the genius of her tools of creative recovery, which she calls Morning Pages and Artist’s Dates. We can do no better than her and having experienced the transformational potential of these tools for ourselves over many years, we give her the credit and share it as she so generously advises us to.

   

Morning Pages, in our context, we would like to call Wake-up notes. For a number of reasons which will become clear as we go along.

Upon waking, every morning, freely write three pages of flow-of-thought in longhand. Non-negotiable. Yes, it is a difficult habit to get into. And rest assured that grammar, spelling, handwriting or skilled writing is of no importance. Nor the content of what you have written. Boast, moan, whine, pray, drone on to your heart’s content. This is strictly for your eyes only and most definitely not an exercise in creative writing, though it might turn out to be extremely creative. 

It is an exercise in listening to whatever comes to mind and putting it down on paper. If nothing comes to mind, you state the case and keep stating the case until something either comes up or you reach the end of the third page. Then stop.

There are no rules (except to do it) and no right or wrong to this writing. Even so, you can expect  some serious resistance and criticism from what Julia Cameron calls The Censor.

“We are victims of our own internalized perfectionist, a nasty internal and eternal critic, the Censor, who resides in our (left) brain and keeps up a constant stream of subversive remarks that are often disguised as the truth,” she writes.

“You can’t even spell!"                                                                                                                            “That last sentence doesn’t make the least sense.”   

                    “How dare you think like that?!"

                                                                              “This is a waste of time.”        

It is important to keep reminding yourself that these negative opinions are false. By sitting up at the first blink of your eyes to the morning light and writing your notes, you gain a few precious minutes of uncensored being before the Critic wakes up. And even if he does catch you at it, keep at it. Remember no rules apply and therefore no criticism is valid.

The whole point of this seemingly senseless exercise, is to break through the wall of shoulds and shouldn’ts that keeps us seperated from our inner core and our buried potential.

In the context of our soul nurturing, the writing of Wake-up notes forms a very important part of the daily formal spiritual practice along with meditation and relaxation techniques, which will be touched on again in further posts.

This essential tool works. It wakes us up to who we really are. Until you begin to see the results for yourself, trust that it does, and push on with it. Your inner child is counting on you.

Matilda

Further reading:

• For a more comprehensive explanation of Julia Camerons’s Morning Pages, go to Julia Cameron live
• Blog posts that expand on this theme, are:

          Treats or cheats?
          Hidden in the heart of things
          Diagnosis: Serious lack of fun

• If you've just "tuned in" to our blog and want to get the background picture, have a look at the Page heading About our Approach
• Posts preceding this one in the series can be found under the Label: Notes from a different drummer