I am a big fan of a webinar. I tend to watch webinars that will help me grow my business and one of the things every, single business coach recommends is journaling. Am I convinced that this is something that is doing anything for me at all as far as my business goes? I'm not sure. However, I have been journaling on and off for years to help with my singing and I do think there is something to be said for it in this part of my life.
The first time I tried journaling was when I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. She refers to journaling as "daily pages". First thing you do in the morning, before you do anything else, is just write. Don't think about it, just let there be a stream of consciousness that flows from your head to your hand. Don't stop, don't decide to write anything specific, just write.
I still do this from time to time, especially when I feel like my brain is too busy but there are other ways to journal. For instance:
1) A gratitude list - write a list of things you are grateful for. You can do this daily, weekly, monthly whatever you want. It is exactly what it sounds like. Just make a list of, let's say, 5 things you are grateful for right now
2) A desire list - write a list of what you want. This can be anything. Materialistic things, things you want to happen to you or for you, where you want to live, jobs you want to get. We can be very guarded when we think about the things we want out of life. It can feel frivolous or selfish but journaling is just for you so you can write whatever you want. Nobody needs to necessarily know what you've written.
3) Ask questions - Questions such as:
a) how or what am I feeling today?
b) is there anything I am worried about?
c) what do I need to get done today?
d) if things are not great right now where can I put my focus that might help me with
my worries?
This is a very quick overview of a few journaling practices. There are more. We will dig a little deeper with each of these, either in future blogs or I will do some live videos in The Enlightened Singer to explore this further. Feel free to just have a go either with the free writing or one of the three other processes just to get started. It is best to do this with actual pen and paper but you could do it by typing on a computer or a tablet. You don't necessarily need to read back anything you write. Especially when it comes to the free writing.
Get yourself a lovely notebook, a lovely pen (perhaps many pens in different colours), grab a cup of coffee or any other beverage and just write (I normally write 2 or 3 pages at a time when free writing but it's up to you how much you do). Hopefully this will help you to get out there, to sing out loud and to sing out proud.
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