"Sit Down and Bleed”, He Says...

I’ve tried to establish a journalling habit many, many times over the past 9 years.

Yet despite fancying myself a writer, I’ve always struggled to do so.

I’d make a good show for two, maybe three weeks, then the “habit” would peter away, as if I’d gotten all I needed already. Perhaps I had on those occasions, but if I’m honest, I don’t think so. More like I told myself I’d run out of things to say, to share.

Ho, what a farce!

I say this now because for the first time in the History of Alexander, I’ve journalled daily for thirteen weeks and counting. What began in preparation for Ceremony Day has carried froth and grown into a delightfully grounding daily ritual.

Looking back, my biggest barrier was not knowing what to write—and thinking that writing about whatever came to mind was silly. How could that possibly be helpful?!

So I’ve made a point of doing things a wee bit different this time around:

I let go of the notion that what gets journalled needs to look a certain way…

… And opened myself to the idea of simply writing something, anything!

When I do feel truly stuck, I lean on this trusty prompt:

“What’s alive for me right now?”

From there, in the words of Heminway (supposedly, maybe), I sit down and bleed.

As the days go by, I’ve journalled about everything from what I’m thinking and how my body is feeling to what I did the day before to project ideas to moments of felinity.

And I’m finally experiencing what so many have described: 

How journalling empties the mind, ushering in clarity and perspective.

(Among other things—but those have been my big picture benefits.)

I think I’m hooked now.

Even if I’m not writing pages upon pages every day. Sometimes, I write naught but a sentence or two. And sometimes I fill the entire page (my self-imposed limit). And rather than locking myself into a specific time to do so, I leave my journal open on the table, ducking in and out throughout the day as and when I feel called.

I’ve found this one-page, “what’s alive?” approach so helpful, so easy to stick to. 

So I share this ritual with you, in case you too are wandering around with too many thoughts and nowhere for them to go. 

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander