Thoughts on life & what matters – June edition
Recently I saw this quote that resonated so well with me. And I guess I am not the only one ‘over-thinking’ things & life… Wanted to share with you a technique that I am using regularly that I find very helpful. My hope is by sharing it with you that you too can find some much needed inner peace.
“The biggest reason we are unhappy is that we think too much.”
It’s now been a couple of months that I’ve regularly been brain-dumping my thoughts down into a notebook. In the beginning it was something I started doing because I had read that it might be a good way to become more aware of all the thoughts running on repeat in my head. In periods of my life I have wanted to be one of those people who journal regularly, and I’ve made attempts, buying fancy journals and started, only to rather quickly stop.
I also had a period writing so-called ‘morning pages’ which I have to say I really enjoyed but in the end it felt like it took too much time. I just didn’t want to start every morning writing for half an hour (I will share about my current morning routines in another ‘newsletter’). Instead it has become my weekend morning routine.
Every day begins for me with a cup of coffee, weekdays and weekend alike. But in the weekends I sit on the floor (yes literally on the floor in our living room, with my back against the sofa), and I light a candle. And while I drink my coffee I brain-dump. I write three pages in my notebook every Saturday & Sunday morning, literally dumping the content of my brain onto paper. I very much like the act of writing by hand, pen on paper. It is not about writing fancy or clever things. It is about putting the pen to paper and letting the thoughts come out, forming words and sentences.
Lately it’s mainly been about me not feeling ‘good enough’. Letting the thoughts come out from the darkness, and onto paper, into the light. What is hiding in those thoughts of not ‘being good enough’ or not doing enough. How come those thoughts are there, what is it that they are really trying to say?! (If I’m brave enough, this too might become part of a story to share in the future, time will tell.)
I write these pages for myself, without the intention of ever going back to what I’ve written, or for it to be read by anyone else. They are thoughts & feelings, put on paper. And almost every time, at the end of my three pages I feel lighter. Sometimes having understood myself a bit better, sometimes coming up with a little ‘action-plan’ of how to handle certain situations.
If you too feel that sometimes there’s just too much going on inside your head try putting pen on paper, and just write. Write what comes to mind, without worrying about the sentences making any sense. Just allow all the thoughts, feelings, emotions, worries, frustrations, sorrows and whatever else is filling up your brain to just ‘see the light’. Make yourself a cup of coffee (or whatever you prefer), find a quiet spot and just write. No corrections, no going back to make a better sentence. Just write.