my foundational tools

The foundation of my writing practice (and my business) is self-care; that is, taking care of myself mentally, physically, and emotionally. Here are the foundational tools I use regularly to take care of myself. They’re not Instagrammable, but they work for me.  

Tool 1: Morning pages

When I first read Julia Cameron’s seminal book The Artist’s Way ten years ago, it changed my writing life forever. 

It was the first time I’d encountered the idea of creativity being a spiritual practice. 

Julia’s work has been integral to my writing life, and the way I teach writing, ever since. 

Anyway, I have not always done writing pages. I go back and forth with doing them and not doing them. 

Right now, in this season of my life, I’m doing them again. 

Morning pages are simple: every morning (seven days a week), you handwrite (not type) three pages of whatever comes out. It’s not as formal as journaling. (Sometimes there’s a lot of complaining.) 

Three sides of paper (not six sides of paper). In a regular 8.5x11 spiral notebook (not a fancy journal). 

I started doing morning pages again this past July and they have been crucial to maintaining my sanity.

Tool 2: Moving my body every day. 

I have discovered through trial and error that I turn into the grumpiest person alive if I don’t move my body every day. 

Movement looks wildly different depending on the day of the week, season of the year, and how my body feels in that particular moment. 

But here are some of my standbys:

• Yoga with Adriene videos on YouTube. I’ve been practicing with Adriene for ten years and love her style. Sometimes I do a ten-minute practice, and that counts.

• Elev8ted 8-minute videos. Sadly, this company has since folded and discontinued their videos, but they’re really great. I’m sorry I can’t share them with you!

• A walk. I try to walk outside at least a few times a week, but in the winter I lean more toward yoga.

Notice there’s nothing fancy here. I don’t pay for classes, I don’t do anything that requires special equipment, just free, on-demand stuff I can do anytime. 

I feel better every time I move.

Tool 3: Sleep.

Enough said. I arrange my life to sleep 8-9 hours per night. It’s amazing how much better I feel when I get a good night of sleep.

These tools allow me to be creative. 

Julia Cameron says something in the Artist’s Way that I love: “Treating yourself like a precious object will make you strong.” 

Yes. Treat yourself like a precious object, my friend.