TEN THOUGHTS ON WHOLE LIVING
1. When you COMMIT your dreams to paper, you give them a place to take root.
2. Be mindful of where you put your ATTENTION. The Shape of your life will follow.
3. When you view your health as nonnegotiable, your PRIORITIES naturally shift.
4. Positive change starts with TRUTH, and no one knows it better than you.
5. You're MORE than just what you do for others.
6. Before you react to an emotion, first consider its SOURCE.
7. Learning to LET GO begins with understanding why you've been hanging on.
8. Do more than understand stress reduction; put it into PRACTICE.
9. There's no way to GROW without taking a few risks.
10.Setting boundaries doesn't kep others out. It DEFINES where your life begins.
I'd like to do a commercial for the first one on the list. If you don't write in a journal, or have but infrequently, I encourage you to begin. Really I do! From the inside of my very bones!
I am a journal junkie and the journey I've had doing this for forty some odd years is amazing! If I don't know myself by NOW, somebody shoot me. And of course I know by writing all these years, the me that I am today will change and grow too! I've seemed to have made a career out of reinventing myself. Oh yes, I've been a busy one! I can track my dreams, hopes, fears (shhh, yes it's that "f" word) I can see my depression and what got me out of it "last" time, I can see the worry - volumes of it really - that was such useless crap and a waste of my writing time. When I questioned endlessly "What is my purpose?" I actually bored myself to death re-reading what I'd written. It's not ALWAYS glorious profound insight page after page, but oh wow, when those little kernels of wisdom spit out of my pen - well, it's a wow, I can't believe I said that!
And speaking of wow, there is the anger! I read some of that stuff now and think, wow, I'm glad I'm over THAT! Good grief, was that ME writing? I swear if I didn't read it, I wouldn't have remembered it, and THAT my friends, is part of the point here. Dump it and forget it - don't carry it! Where better to do that than in a journal?
Oh don't give me that hooey about being afraid someone will read it! When I taught journaling, I had the classes come up with the best hiding places - how creative they were! - but honestly I can tell you, I've never worried a bit about it. (Women, I ask you now, do you really think your husband WANTS to know what's in your head??? I think my hubs is relieved he doesn't have to listen to it because I dump in the journal and not on him!) If there is still a lingering paranoia here, then burn them, shred them or otherwise destroy them. I confess I burned a few of mine, not the WHOLE one (great writing ideas spill out of my pen sometimes, or characters) but most of what I burned was actually pages and pages of whiney woman stuff - pointless, dreary stuff.
There are some wonderfully healing things you can do. One is the un-sent letter. To get needed closure, I have the class do this. It can be to anyone, living or dead, that you need to tell something to - either you loved them, hated them, miss them, forgive them - your choice, your healing moment. We would have a campfire class to bring these letters to and burn them all together. We let the smoke take the emotion where it needed to go. For some it was the most tearful of experiences but oh so healing!
Some, wrestling with their spiritual concerns, had the "assignment" of writing about the God of their childhood - then contrasting with the God of their Now. When you actually sit down and write a LIST with each sentence beginning with "I believe....." it might help you in unexpected ways.
I could go on and on about the benefits of keeping a journal. To me, it's like breathing, I just do it. I write about everything and anything. Writing about my dreams/goals, as this list above says, I give them a place to take root! I really believe that.
If you are tentative or tempted to begin and need more encouragement or a recommended reading list, just email me! This could be one addiction that is actually GOOD for you! Don't be afraid of who will come out of pen and on to the page - it's your best friend - it's YOU!
If you are tentative or tempted to begin and need more encouragement or a recommended reading list, just email me! This could be one addiction that is actually GOOD for you! Don't be afraid of who will come out of pen and on to the page - it's your best friend - it's YOU!
Hey, SuZen, you are spot on about keeping a journal. Sometimes your journal, your inner thoughts, are the only things that keep you sane and going...and all too often the only friend you have. I have journalized for years and I feel my blog, like yours, is an extension of that.
ReplyDeletepeace,
mike
livelife365
Hi Suzen,
ReplyDeleteWell...this is an area I know I could focus more upon. So, today I'm taking that as a friendly reminder from you, dear friend.
Hi SuZen,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was living in India, I read "Creative Visualization" and that is when I discovered the importance of writing down what you wanted to achieve. So everyday I wrote down what I was feeling and what I wanted to experience. Within two years, I had achieved every single thing I had written which blew my mind.
So journaling does work especially when you write what you want to experience. Somehow when it is on paper, it just a note to the Universe that you are serious.
I think this is something that more and more people need to realize...we are the creators of our reality.
Love and hugs to you for always sharing your wisdom and love with us!
I read of someone who kept an art journal, recording their lives in pictures instead of words. They even took it on their trip to Europe and recorded their journey in beautiful images. I thought it was an interesting take on journaling!
ReplyDeleteHi Mike! Somehow I just KNEW you were a journal junkie too! haha. You're so right about it being the thing that keeps you sane and keeps you going! Seriously! It has - and continues to!
ReplyDeleteHi Lance! I know we've talked about this before. Yes, dear, just another little reminder. You'd LOVE the insight you would discover!
Hi Nadia! Isn't it the best? The writing down what you want? Yes, indeed, it gives such roots to your intentions! I hope my little commercial really DOES help to get people to realize the value in this. Thank you so much for sending love and hugs with every comment - and sharing YOUR wisdom! Another edition of the Mutual Admiration Society! :)
Hi Joanne! I have some artist friends who do art journals - whatever works! I'm so hooked on words for expression that I rarely do sketches - but I imagine them, would that count?
I agree with journaling. I have 7 years of gratitude journals. I just told Suzie Cheel that I'm starting a new journal and will keep track of my life "miracles" and how and when they happen. I love what you shared. It've very powerful and I can see why you kept it.
ReplyDeleteSuZen -- What a great post! I liked the the ten things. My favorite is "learning to LET go begins with understanding why you've been hanging on." This is a good one for me.
ReplyDeleteRegarding journaling, I don't do anymore, but kept a diary/journal from childhood until a few years ago.
I agree with you totally about re-reading the journal. When I used to do this with mine, I also would see how I found my way out of dark places.
I also discovered that I have a powerful positive voice inside me that came out in the journal to help me...I suppose it could be called my intuitive self???
For some reason, I can't journal right now, but I think this might be changing soon. I like the idea of doing a mixture of art and writing.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this today. It brings back good memories for me:~)
One thing I have found since I started committing my hopes dreams and fears to paper is that i accountable to them. there is place outside my head were they exist now so I can not just shrug and say oh well i did not do that. now I have to admit to my journal why I did not fallow through.
ReplyDeleteSuzen - Great post! I've always wanted to keep a diary or a real journal too and I've started a few times, but usually stop after a few entries- not sure why.
ReplyDeleteI use my blog as a journal of sorts. Not always the best idea, because I'm afraid i will end up whining too much and who wants to read that, right? Thanks for sharing the ten thoughts- All things I needed to read today!
What a great list. I like the idea of tucking articles, etc. into one's journal. I just amass a stack of them here and there through out my house... Great post!
ReplyDeleteI went through a period of several years where I wrote in a free-association journal every day. I ended up writing millions of words and have mostly tossed them by now. I reread some of them but for me it was like rototilling the soil, it loosened up my mind. And I learned that as long as I write I'm never lonely. I stopped because I wanted to write something more structured and it was clear as long as I was doing my journal writing it wasn't going to happen. Now I have my two blogs so that goal has been/is being achieved. Eventually I'll probably start a journal again. It's an easy enough habit to slip back into. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Tess! I've resurrected so many stories and characters to write about from my journals - for that reason alone they are of great value! But the insight - wow. Unreal. Thanks for reminding me about Suzie!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara! How interesting! I'd be writing "Why can't I journal right now? What is holding me back?" I know this sounds insane, but I have wonderful dialogues in my journal - like some dual person, one asks,one answers - it can get really creepy, haha - I've also dialogued with my dead for 25 yrs. mother - and "God". Shhhh, don't tell!
ReplyDeleteHi Quinn! You're so right - we do become accountable when it's on paper. That has been helpful, don't you think? I love the idea of giving our dreams a place to root!
ReplyDeleteGroan SuZen, I have started journals and I get fed up with writing every thought. It is so slow, and I'd rather knit.
ReplyDeleteI rather knit and let my thoughts flow than write. I do love completion letters though, they are great and I have written down where I wanted to live and that is where we live right now.
BUT journaling every day??? Oh SuZen I still rather knit and think. This year I made 6 jumpers this year that I spun and knitted which include my thoughts.
Oh SuZen, what do you think?????
Hi SuZen!
ReplyDeleteBoy am I glad I stopped by here today! I love your 10 Thoughts for Whole Living--thank you so much for sharing them. And thank you for sharing your insights on journaling. I am a big proponent, too, which we have discussed before...but I have been terribly inconsistent about keeping up with the practice. You have me feeling excited again. I think I'll pick the habit back up.
Thanks for the boost! Have a great week! Jodi
Hi, SuZen!
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic, and in that list you shared, #10 really jumped off the screen at me. Boundaries don't keep others out, but they do define where our lives begin. Wow, that's just so well put!
As for journaling, I used to do this as a kid, and even a little in my 20's but when I found blogging, that was the resurrection of both my writing passion AND my outlet. Granted, I'm careful to keep things skewed toward the positive because I know others will (hopefully) be reading it... But even my blog writing has transformed a lot in the two and a half years since I began.
I love the exercise of writing a letter and burning it. Oh I've done that! I think I also wrote and mailed a letter to the Universe (c/o Mike Dooley in Florida!), thanking the Universe for this great life. It felt so GOOD!
Write on, SuZen! (And right on, too!) (Or switch those... however works best for you!)
With love,
Megan
I love your list, especially the boundaries one. That's a tricky proposition: imagine that, keeping others at a healthy distance is actually the beginning of closeness with oneself and others too. I've been journaling for years. I do not do it as much as before. Maybe because now I have the blog as an outlet. It comes and goes. Don't if anyone's read my stuff and honestly, I couldn't care less!
ReplyDeletethanks for being there!
I sometimes keep a journal about what I DO (diary). Boring. I do the same thing most eeryday. I need to say how I FEEL.
ReplyDeletebikehikebabe
Hi SuZen - I've kept a journal off and on, but not nearly with such dedication as you. I love what you write here, though. I can hear the bond that you have with that journal, that it becomes a part of you (well, like you say, it is you - "your best friend" - so well put). One thing journaling has done for me is help me see the themes of my life, those that keep coming up again and again, where I'm in sort of a trance. That's been eye-opening.
ReplyDeleteLove how you say you've make a career out of "reinventing myself." That's inspiring. I think life requires constant reinvention. Thanks and hugs to you SuZen.
Hi DeeDee! I'm sure if I wrote on my blog instead of my journal I'd have zero followers - haha - it's probably more boring/whining/ordinary than profound most days! But when those gems come - wow!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! Yes I'm a real "clipper" of stuff and I, too, would have them scattered everywhere if not for keeping them tucked in the back of the journal. Actually now I have a blog notebook that is getting fatter by the day - all blog idea materials, and way too much for my journal to hold anymore!
ReplyDeleteHi Jean! Boy you hit it the spot - as long as I write I'm never lonely! Perfect! Yes indeed I feel that way too! I cannot imagine NOT starting a day with my journal - it grounds me.
ReplyDeleteHi Wilma! Oh Wilma, I did not mean to cause you a groan! And then you close with "What do you think?" - well, I have to tell you, I think the benefits of journaling vs thinking provide you with a more stable place to work things out on paper vs your head. Many of your blog posts are perfect examples of journaling so you are, in a way, doing it already, just with an audience and comments. As for it being "slow"? My journal is my best friend and worth whatever time I spend. I don't know how I would have survived without it! Since I taught classes for years I'm always interested in why some people are so resistant to the process. Asking that question in a journal is a really good beginning. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat are "jumpers"? I crochet like a fiend, most every night. I made dozens of scarfs for the nearby shelters and homeless over Christmas. Gotta have something in my hands during tv time - if not this, then quilting. So knitting I totally understand - great busy work and great therapy as well.
Hi Joydi! Oh how exciting that you may start up again! I think it is the absolute best way to think things thru and create fabulous ideas!
ReplyDeleteWhat better way I have not a clue!
Hi My Megan! Yes those unsent letters are powerful medicine! I do them all the time. It's also just plain out inspiring to write and let your thoughts just spill out on the paper. Some actually make sense of things! haha! I love when that happens!
Hi Maryse! Writing as therapy - and yes, blogs are a great way to express ourselves as well. I'm so glad you are blogging and I am really looking forward to more from you! It is always such a delight to see what you have written! Like you, I didn't ever worry if anyone was reading or not, but now that I have such wonderful friends commenting, it's a whole other ballgame - and great encouragement to keep writing!
Hi Cynthia! Yes indeed to write about how you FEEL about things changes the whole process. I encourage you to try doing that!
Hi Patty! Yes I sure do have a bond with my journal - and I love how you discovered themes! I name each journal at the end of the year based on what theme or current ran thru the writing. Well, you know how I name everything - but it's been a hoot doing that!
Hi there SuZen.
ReplyDeleteJournaling is something that I never quite got my head round. I'd start off with a flurry of activity and then it would dwindle. I suppose it was how I related to it, more of a chore than a friend and most of the time it was the ramblings of an over sized ego!
I like the 'looking for themes' idea as we can be so blinded to our unconscious thoughts and actions so it's a good way of reflecting them back to ourselves and I also loved that you could dump on the journal instead of your husband. It does pay to get unserving thoughts out of our head and process them.
Journaling obviously serves you and I hear how it contributes to you. And you being YOU, bring that gift to others through your classes. You champ! xx Ann-Marie
Hi Ann Marie! I think journaling is a tool - so is meditation. After a lifetime of keeping journals you can see why I call myself a junkie! It was fantastic to have had the opportunity to work with so many women over the years in classes. They spun off into journal groups like bubbles in champagne. Women bonded and became life long friends in classes, started their own groups (the bubbles) and I still to this day visit with them on occassion. It is seeing it grow, years after the class is over, that fuels my continued enthusiasm for the process.
ReplyDeleteHi suZen! What a wonderful list and a great "advertisement" for journaling which I also agree is a life changer. But for me, I have had both my MOther AND my husband invade my private journals which led to some nasty scenes. And you can't imagine how betrayed I felt. There was no safe spot, no safe place to hide them. They were ALWAYS found. It was so traumatic that I ended up in shock. So, I am cautiously trying to write again. My private thoughts are still not committed to paper. Which kind of negates what journaling is, but it is a start.....thanks for a wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteHi Diantha! OMG, really??? I put two of the best hiding places the classes brainstormed on your blog. I can sure see why you would be hesitant to really let it rip uncensored - wow. I'll admit I tore out and burned a LOT of pages over the years that I wouldn't want my kids or hubs to ever read, but it sure felt good to get those sticky ickies out of my head! I'm glad you haven't abandoned the process altogether. Sending hugs and encouragement!
ReplyDeleteI agree, journaling can be very freeing and helps us to keep our creative juices flowing. It is a wonderful practice to write out our thoughts as it gives us an opportunity to reflect and organize that which otherwise would become a jumbled mess of thoughts that bog us down.
ReplyDeleteDarling Suzen,
ReplyDeleteYou know when you mentioned in a comment on my blog about journaling..i instantly caught on..and waited eagerly fro this post. And now reading it...my god i am blow away...and WOW WOW WOW!
I am starting one today...I have one sitting right in front of me..all crisp and new....waiting to jump into :)
But you know the privacy issue....I have a nasty idea...how about i write it on the computer...in some document hidden somewhere with a password...hmm...my sinister little woman mind is at work ;)
Thank you so much for this awesome push! I really needed it :)
So Much Love to you..
Z~
We all need positive change. Success lies in the joyous moments of happiess at this very moment. We must all pursue our dreams ad envision it completion while beig happy in the present moment. Great list!
ReplyDeleteDear Suzen, this is lovely. I have journaled from time to time. The book I am in the process of publishing right now started from journalling my thoughts AFTER I came out of the Australian rainforest and back into society. It was a way of expressing the truths and feelings I experienced in the forest. And dealing with the drastic reality of my society. But oddly I never journaled in the rainforest. I was so busy LIVING, full-on living, that it never even occured to me to journal. There was no need to. It was when I came back into society from the wild that I needed to journal as a way of transitionsing.
ReplyDeleteI love this one: #2. And your words "and the shape of your life may follow." It is something that I am aware of every day. It is no longer a matter of me believing or seeing that my thoughts shape my life, but now a matter of "actively" and consciously choosing what reality I want to create. So, seeing this here really inspired me. You are a beautiful and clear soul. And your writing here was soothing for me. Thank you dear SuZen. Much love, Robin.
Hi Mark! Boy you're right about journaling being a great place to put jumbled up thoughts. It gives you a chance to see right in front of you all the nonsense you spend your thought-time on. Journaling really clears my head like opening a window!
ReplyDeleteHi Z! I have people in my classes insist on journaling on the computer because they didn't like writing long hand, or whatever. It's always a matter of personal preference, but I feel there is a real connection to my hand holding the pen to paper - maybe I'm a hopeless romantic, but I sense the connection there, on not on the keyboard. Best of luck! Enjoy the journey!
Hi Jonathan! I'm glad you liked the list - I did too! Thanks for visiting - come back again!
Hi Robin! You are such a dear one!!! How beautiful that your book began in a journal, or with journaling! I can't imagine having a journey like you did, but ah, the writing afterwards! And you are so right, we are creating constantly, whether we choose to believe it or not. How much better to create in the knowing though! It has such purpose!
ReplyDeleteYour blog - and comments here - add more richness to my life! Thank you so much for your gracious and loving words!
SuZen,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this early this week, I got so darn excited...couldn't wait to comment..but forgot I was at WORK where posting a comment to you blog doesn't work at work. POOP!
But here I am...
Better late than never.
I am a JOURNAL JUNKIE. I've been keeping a journal faithfully since early 2002. Before that, I used to journal, but I never saved them. I remember journaling as a teen, but my parents being nosey parents would read whatever I wrote and confuse what I made up or ranted about as fact.
Anyway...I know write with abandon. I don't hide my journals. I sometimes misplace them, but I don't hide them. I've worked through so many issues...so much anger...tons of grief when my first marriage failed...with a least one page of nothing but F-you written 250 times. And in between all that crap, I've got some of the most amazing poems, sentences, and a-ha's.
I love my journal. My journal is me.
xxooo
Peggy
HI SuZen, jumpers are jerseys and what great comments about journaling and thanks so much for your compassionate answer. I will investigate my reluctance. xox Wilma
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you SuZen. I started journaling when I didn't even know I was journaling! Just venting out frustrations on paper. But the connection was made...when I wrote on paper, my feeling shifted. I could see myself more clearly. In time, I started writing essays, columns, articles, books. Truly, it all started with a blank piece of paper in a tacky spiral notebook. I recommend it to everyone who wants to see themselves and their lives more clearly. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteGreat post about journaling! I like your way of writing. It encourage me and gives confidence to prove my goals.Sure i want to see myself and i am going to journaling myself.I believe it will workout for me.