I have kept a journal in one form or another for over 35 years, and I still have every one of them. For now, I keep them in the studio where I play with all things paper. The spiral bound ones are filled with my “Daily Pages.”
I started doing the Daily Pages or “Morning Pages,” as a lot of people call them, when I discovered and followed the ARTIST’S WAY in 1996. That is a seriously long time to have been starting my day in the same way. SIRIUS-LY. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. For those of you who have not met this handsome guy — meet Sirius, my anything BUT serious Chiweenie. He keeps me company every morning while I write my Daily Pages, with my felted bunny pen.)
This morning when I was flailing about trying to figure out what to post I started reading through old journal entries, and as always happens every decade or so when I hit a wall and decide to go back and see if I can figure out just what it was I was thinking, I discover… I was thinking the same thing I’m thinking now. That list of unfinished home improvements? Same list. The pre-holiday To-Do list? Same list. The flatten my abs, get new jeans, why does my hairdresser never understand what I’m aiming for list? Oh yeah, exactly the same list.
But then if I keep digging, the moments of brilliant insanity come shining through. I have two gems to share with you. The first is from 11/3/99. I was desperate for separate studio space. So much so I even had planned dealing with potential “bad smells” arising from seasonally switching from trailer to trailer. I’m sorry to say I never did get to try out my plan and those trailers are gone now, replaced by new, fresh smelling condominiums.
And then there’s my favorite, this little wonder from 11/4/76…
By the way, “Mike” is my Mike. He may think I’m insane, but we’re still together 37 years later. And he still likes my tail.