Morning Routine: A Collaboration with “She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”

I have always been a bit of a lazy, undisciplined wretch when it comes to a morning spiritual/wellness practice.  Oh, I do just fine with the functions of the day job.  In fact, I get criticized for being a bit too rigid in my routines and processes.  But when it comes to doing those things that strengthen and motivate my interior life, well, not so much.   I’ve tried but usually backslide in a few days after “re-committing myself to my practice.”

But then I decided to collaborate with some technology I have on hand and it has made all the difference.

To make a long story short, I created a “routine” on one of those digital personal assistants.  (I don’t want to name names because she wakes up every time I say her name and won’t shut up.)  Anyway.   I programmed “she-who-must-not-be-named” to run a routine that I activate when I wake that gives me the date, time, weather, news brief, and then an in-bed yoga routine where the last asana gets me out of bed and on my feet.  From there I can manage a few sun salutations.   When I end with the savasana, I tell HER to play some appropriate music and set a timer for 10 minutes.  I know then that I can meditate and pray without falling back to sleep on the floor.

After this, I set another timer for doing devotional reading and journaling.   When that timer goes off, I proceed with getting ready for the day job, preparing breakfast, and packing lunch.  Finally, I set one more timer to tell me when to leave for work.  This usually is enough time for me to eat, watch the news, and maybe even work in my sketch book.

So far, so good.   But it’s only been one day.   So we’ll see.

The ancient sages and devotees managed their spiritual practices by watching the movement of the sun and being accountable to each other in the communities where they lived.   I guess I am a little like that too — except my abbess is some AI chick in a little round container.

ljg 2020

 

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RDP Tuesday: wretch

The Natural Process of Handwriting

As you can tell from my recent posts, I am big into handwriting notes and plans.   Mind you, when it comes to actually composing an essay or story, I still use a computer (as I am now) for expediency, but when it comes to the organizing, researching, or processing ideas and emotional content into words, I must use pen and paper.

Why is that?  I am not an expert on brain function, but I have enough experience to realize that I retain more when I write.   When I am in a lecture setting, I take copious notes by hand.  However, I rarely keep those notes.  The act of writing forces my brain to remember what I hear.  I see students in the classroom pull out their laptops to take notes.   From what I have heard, their retention of the material is far less than the retention of a student who handwrites notes.

Similarly, I think the physicality of writing by hand parlays itself into the inspiration and development of ideas.  By nature we are tactile creatures.  Paper feels real.  Digital bytes on a screen are not real. Writing by hand takes more effort than typing; therefore, it is more intentional.   I think that conscious, intentional, sensory experience in the creative process draws forth ideas and helps to flesh them out.

This might not be the case for everyone.  I know writers whose ideas come so fast and furiously that they NEED a computer to get it all down.  Hey, whatever works.  If that is your nature, embrace it.   I find creating on the computer to be a bit constraining while on a piece of paper and I can cross out, draw lines to new ideas, engage thought-mapping in a graphic way that I can not accomplish with a computer keyboard.   This is my nature, and I embrace it.

For me, I need my Moleskine and Papermate felt tip.

ljg (c) 2016

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/natural/

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Getting Organized

My winter break is almost over, and I have managed for the most part to keep up with my self-imposed 21 day creative challenge. I have painted and drummed and to my surprise found that getting organized and decluttering my home is a major creative outlet.

One of the things I did was to set up my 2016 bullet journal. Below I have put a link to the bullet journal page so you can see what this organizational tool is all about. One of the things that I discovered during these last three weeks is that I can be organized if I apply myself and use such tools as the bullet journal. I’m going to take you want a little flip through of my bullet journal so you can see how it’s set up.

My bullet journal is housed within a leather passport-sized traveler’s journal. This is not an expensive Midori; it is a “faux-dori” that I bought through Amazon from ZLYC. It was on sale so I could not pass it up.

The journal is about the size of two decks of playing cards. This may seem small for a journal, but it fits into my bag. If I cannot take it with me, then I will not use it, so this works for me.

The main component of the journal is an extra small Moleskine weekly diary.

This is perfect for me since it has seven days on one spread.  I write in the tasks I plan to undertake each day, including the creative ones.

I linked together with rubber bands four extra small Moleskine cahiers each dedicated to a specific purpose.  My Brain Dump is the  most important section as this is where I figure out things I want to create.

I used a spreadsheet program to create a tracking chart. On it I have various daily tasks that would be too much to write in each day on the bullet journal spread — like exercise, reading assignments, etc.

Finally, I created a pocket pouch to hold things like post-its, business cards, and other bits of paper.

So my bullet journal will help me to stay on track with all my various creative projects and daily chores.  No excuses this year for not getting things done.

To learn more about bullet journaling, visit its website