Thoughts on Practice

I’ve been thinking a lot about my Daily Musings Journal practice this week as I have written the posts with techniques and ideas for you to try during this mini musings adventure.
I’ve been thinking a lot about having a practice and practicing – in general – this week. And part of me wanted to run away before getting to this post I committed to write.

Who am I to be sharing about having a practice?

I feel like the last person to have the discipline to do something consistently.

As I began to journal about this some thoughts formed…
Piano lessons as a kid – I never practiced in between lessons and I didn’t have anyone pushing me to do so. I eventually gave up piano lessons and never really learned to play piano – or any instrument for that matter.
Learning to telemark ski – I wanted to be able to ski in the back country with my new boyfriend (at the time) so I hauled myself out to the mountain on my lunch hour (I was working in marketing for Copper Mountain Resort at the time) with my skinny free-heel skis and stumbled my way down the mountain once or twice a few times a week. I felt like such a geek, especially when I could have popped on my alpine skis and skied on any run I wanted.

I certainly didn’t practice everyday, and for a long time I still defaulted to what I knew better, but little by little the joy of being in the back country over rode that need to be the best. I just wanted to have fun. And little by little I got better at it, too!

It’s easy to forget that developing a practice can be about the process and about having fun – and not always about the doing and becoming.

For a long time I didn’t even realize that my Daily Musings Journal was a practice – it was just something I did (pretty regularly) because I wanted to …track my ski days; write down my day’s happenings (tracking some things, some times)…have a way to look back on my adventures.

I have found that entering through this back door helps me cultivate stronger practices, and for the right reasons.

Now, years later, my Daily Musings Journal practice has developed into my creative play memoir, of sorts, that I have begun sharing with the world.
It helps me to be present with my days and be grateful for this one wild and precious life.

I have found that now it doesn’t matter if I get off track (and believe me I do get off track) I begin again.

Begin where you are.

As you know if you watched my How the Daily Musings Journal was born video, I started with pencil – scribbling words & thoughts – on blank journals I was creating as I went along. It has just been in the past few years that I have begun to add more color & sketching, doodling & collage to my day squares. It has been through this creative play practice that I am beginning to gain confidence in my drawing skills…something I have beat myself up about not practicing for many years.

Begin… 

where you are (where you are comfortable)

• With pencil or pen, color or not, words or doodles.
• Scribble your reflections of the day
• Write down something you are grateful for
• Write down a quote that inspires you
• Paste in a picture
• Scrawl across the week — I can’t remember what the heck I did (or just doodle across the week which I have done many times ~ see the image below)

and Begin again when you need to.

This is what I encourage for you – with any practice you wish to pursue. And I am thrilled if creative play in the Daily Musings Journal is one practice you want to pursue.

I hope these thoughts will be helpful for any practice you wish to begin or that you may be struggling with. Remember why you want to cultivate this practice. Is it something that brings you joy (even if it is not always easy or fun)?

Begin, begin again… 

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A few words on sharing…for me sharing my daily musings is a relatively new practice. It is a challenging one for me and one I definitely get off track from. I begin again because it brings me joy to see others excited about going on a musings adventure (aka doodling & playing with letters & lines, words & color). It brings me joy to hear about others opening up to their creativity and enjoying the process.
Journaling is personal, and sharing is not for everyone. For some of you your journal is for your eyes only. I completely respect and honor this. Please know that just because I share, it is not at all a requirement for going on a musings adventure of your own.

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Begin where you are and EnJOY the process.

If you are inspired to share, I would love to hear about your musings adventure. And/or please share your thoughts on practice. I’d love to hear about how you cultivate any practice that is important to you.

And if you leave a comment by tomorrow, Saturday, November 21 at 10pm MST you will be entered to win* a 2016 Daily Musings Journal!

If you’re on Instagram and you feel inspired to share there, please use the hashtag #musingsadventure so we can see what you’ve created.

Thank you for joining me on this mini musings adventure.

xox,

xox

xox

P.S. If you did not get to musing as much as you wanted this week, no worries – these posts will be here for you to refer back to. Begin again…

P.S.S. If you want to create a musings adventure between now and the end of the year you can still get your printable download of this week here, or purchase a printable download of the September – December 2015 Daily Musings Journal here.

P.S.S.S. If you’d like to keep up with my adventures I’d love to have you join the band of intrepid mermaids who receive my monthly mermaid tales (you’ll also be the first to hear about anything new I create and receive special offers, too). Click here to sign-up.

* Only U.S. readers are eligible. It is sadly cost prohibitive to send packages internationally these days.