One of the basic tools of the Artist’s Way is the morning pages.

Every morning, you write down by hand whatever thoughts or emotions occuring to you at the time of writing. The minimal amount you’re expected to write is 3 pages. For me, it takes about 30 mins to do the morning pages. Since the morning pages are only for yourself, you’re encouraged to write anything you want to write. There’s no need to self-edit your thoughts as well.

One of the benefits of the morning pages is that you can train your muscle for listening to yourself. I bet you have some negative noises that you had to adapt as you grew up as well as your positive voice that cheers you up. That sounds pretty much like a folk explanation and nothing solid, but I believe you get the picture. Working on the morning pages lets you cultivate your awareness more.

Having sharp awareness is useful in any area. For example, I think it’s no exaggeration to say that awareness I developed through the morning pages helped me get better at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The reason is that now I’m more aware of what I want to do, am trying to do and am doing. Once you become aware of these things, it will be easier to improve your game. Similarly, better awareness helps you deal with your negative noises as well as listen carefully to your positive voice. Being able to note these things is the first step and that’s exactly what the morning pages help you achieve. Even if you have no intention to work on the Artist’s Way, try doing the morning pages for 30 days. Or even a week. See how that makes a difference in your daily life.

Once you’ve tried that or you’ve already been doing, come back here and tell me what your experiences were like!