Many people start with a calming or centering ritual before they write. However, I’ve noticed that at times—most recently when I awoke at about 3 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep—that the process went in the other direction.
I awoke for no particular reason that I was aware, but was clearly and suddenly awake. I didn’t remember the preceding dream, but I awoke worried, a little confused, and after a few restless minutes of trying to go back to sleep, I knew that that was pointless.
So I left the bedroom so as not to wake up my husband, opened my journal, and then started writing. I’m not even sure what I wrote—I wasn’t sure what I was thinking, but I knew that the process would take me somewhere. So I wrote on, inking whatever words tumbled out. Then suddenly all the extra frenzied, frenetic energy that I was swimming in disappeared and poof! in an instant the clouds parted and I simply felt my core, my center, and reconnected with it. I took a deep breath and felt relieved.
That was it. I didn’t need to write any more, I could simply go back to sleep knowing that I was back in touch with my core self. I went back to bed and promptly fell asleep.
Of course, each one of us is different. Let me know what happens to you in the middle of the night if you can’t sleep and begin to journal. What’s your process of writing and get back to sleep?
Get the RSS feed
Subscribe via Email