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DAY 7
Keep a Rambling
Today it’s off to the shops to buy art supplies and a new note pad (or use any you may have in your house) to create new place to store your thoughts. A place you can just babble your thoughts and feelings. A place to write thoughts, poems and questions of the universe. It’s kind of like a best friend that you write to any time you are confused.
This may not sound exciting at first, however I (Mark) have found this to be the most powerful tool for my mental sanity.
You might remember in the movie Pretty Woman when Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are in the bath together and Richard Gere’s character says “I’m very angry with my father. I am very angry” and he refers to all the years of counseling that it took to be able to say that. He makes out that it was not a big deal but the truth is we can often feel confused on issues for years, just ignoring them but really we are hiding feelings of being unresolved. These issues also take up mental and emotional energy we would like to give to other things. When we finally clarify a confusing feeling and put it into words, there is a certain level of relief. This is often referred to as ‘awareness is curative’. When we can actually say, quite clearly, what we feel and understand it we have control over our thoughts.
It is common to hear people say; “I know what I think, I just can’t say it.” If you can’t say it, it means that you are emotionally illiterate on that issue (that is that you don’t have words for your emotions). The ‘Ramblings’ we are creating today is a place to build both of these skills. To just babble out thoughts and put them into words.
(At the University I was park of founding in New York the students did this exercise all day everyday for 2 weeks. They wanted the students to know how to express their thoughts on everything. This is the method used in the movie called Finding Forester with Shaun Connery)
Another benefit of blurting your thoughts is that negative and confused thoughts are like a poison in your system and they can poison your perspectives on other issues. Like any poison you need to get it out of your system. Any contribution to a ‘Ramblings’ is invaluable.
If you are not sure what to write in your Rambling, write what is called ‘Train of thought’. Just write what you are thinking, write that you don’t know what to write, that you have never noticed how the dots on your letter “I’s” never are on top. Whatever enters your head. Babble. Another thing to write is about your experience of this ten day program. What emotions you had during the day. What you are angry about. Hat you are happy about.
I traveled non-stop for three years in my early twenties and I kept a Ramblings the whole time. It just became my best friend. I developed mental muscle as I was able to transform mental confusion into clear thoughts on the page.
So find yourself a scrapbook, note pad or something to write in and get decorating. Make it something you want to pick up. Then write in it in the evenings before bed. Not every night, just whenever you feel like it but especially when you are stressed, burnt out or confused.
Be sure to give this exercise a chance to be regular. You really need to create this as a habit. Any time you are bored go to it. This is a long-term contribution to your life. You will love it but you need to have a go at it a few times when you are stressed to really feel the benefits.
