Do you feel joy at seeing a blank page?

The start of September is traditionally time when we start thinking about going back to school or back to work after a summer break, and its often associated with the desire to get back into a routine, or start something new.

The feeling of a new year is strong, and after being (hopefully) refreshed after the holidays, there can be a lot of pressure to launch back into the day to day treadmill of activity that we were used to.

But I’m not feeling it so much this year. The summer has indeed been lovely, and it’s been great to meet up with people again and get out into the world, but I can feel the busyness and the pressure building back up.  And I for one would like to put the brakes on a little.

Because over the last year or so, I’ve learned a lot from slowing down.  At first it was enforced because of lockdown, but I soon realised that my mind worked a lot better when it was slower.

My brain started to come up with way more ideas and creativity than it ever did in the time before.  And certainly, more than sitting at a laptop, willing the ideas to come ever could.

We’ve come to think of ‘slowing down’ as being lazy or unproductive, but there is a big difference between doing nothing and doing things more mindfully.

When we begin to become aware of how our lives are playing out day to day, then it’s much easier to recognise when things are out of balance.  And the quicker we can take remedial action, the lesser impact these imbalances can cause.

And we also invite in more possibilities when we think slower.  We don’t automatically do things because we feel we should, or because we think we know the best next action to take.

If we allow more creativity in to our thoughts, then we can think up new possibilities.

It’s like sitting with a blank notebook, and no expectations.  

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard about the ‘morning pages’ idea from Julia Cameron…the practice of sitting down with a pen and paper first thing in the morning and letting everything out on the page.  Ideas, rants, nonsense…whatever comes.  Just allowing your brain to empty what it needs to, can allow space for better thoughts to come.

However, you’re feeling this September, embrace the joy of the blank page.  Whether you see it through the lens of exciting new plans or possibilities, or a chance to empty out what’s been cluttering up in your head.  Sit for a moment, and allow yourself time to see what comes next.

 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash