Stream of Consciousness journaling

I was just moseying around my Saturday afternoon when I felt a tug to write. This feeling is usually a sign that my Higher Self wants to talk. Listening is a good idea, so I decided to engage in what is called Stream of Consciousness journaling.

What did my thoughts have to say to me? Well, I’ll get into that a little later.

For now, let’s talk about how I discovered the link between these two concepts. How did I know that exact experience (this tug of wanting to write) meant I might discover something new about myself or the world?

Stream of Consciousness journaling

I tried it. I got some journals and I tried writing down my thoughts. Not even a list of what had happened each day, but what my mind was thinking about. This is sometimes called Stream of Consciousness writing.

Sometimes it seems like gibberish. Sometimes it brings me “AHA!” moments.

How to do it

The technique for stream of consciousness journaling is very simple.

1. Get yourself in the right frame of mind. Some people like to do a short meditation, others use it as a literary device for fleshing out characters of a story.
2. You’ll need some paper, or a journal. I purchased a blank book specifically for this purpose, so as not to “dirty” up the others. And I use this journal far more than any other. Don’t let a lack of a journal stop you! Start on blank pages of printer paper if that’s what is available.
3. Grab a pen. I love the color purple; it just makes me happy. So I have a purple pen (ok, a box of purple pens) which I use for journaling. Don’t worry or wait to find the perfect pen. Just use what you have.
4. Start writing whatever comes to mind
   1. Sometimes this means literally writing “I can’t think of anything to write, my mind is blank”.
   2. Don’t stop there
5. Keep writing down your thoughts as they come to you. No judgement,
   1. Remember, spelling, grammar and punctuation don’t matter. Not even a little.
   2. It’s not important that the sentences be cohesive or beautifully crafted
   3. Just get the thoughts onto the page
6. Stop when you feel like you’re done.

And finally: Practice.

If your first attempt yields little more than a blank mind or doodles, remember: there is no way to do it wrong.

Here is a short (5 minute) video I found about How to write Stream of Consciousness.

My own experience

In any case, I have learned to access a mental state where the words flow from my pen. On this Saturday the words leaped onto the page, almost before I could finish thinking them. It becomes almost like a type of Automatic Writing.

I let the pen do the talking and kept myself open, as I’d been practicing. What I received was exactly the truth that I’d been needing to hear.

As I was open to the Divine/Higher Self, I found that most of the things I realized were things I’d been hearing for the past few months in my Sacred Expansion class, but not able to fully process yet. They just finally clicked for me.

What I heard (wrote)

In the recent incident I mentioned above, I felt the call of the pen, and opened myself up. As I sat writing, I realized that most of the time, I feel like I need to be “socially acceptable”. I don’t even know what that means, really.

It’s an abstract concept developed by my mind and linked with my social anxiety. I mean, there is no one right way to be, and no formula I could learn to do the right thing in all situations.

My Conclusion

So, what if I let go of all those little white lies I wanted to tell in order to feel “socially acceptable”? I hate lies, so when I lie, it shows all over my body. Who wants to be around someone who feels like they are lying all the time?

What if instead, I let my true self shine through? Some people would like it and some people would not. Could I live with that?

There was the hook. That was price of living authentically. Some people wouldn’t like me, and I had to not care what they said or did. There was the challenge.

I make the choice to move toward my vision of freedom and being my authentic self.

I will warn you, that person isn’t always socially appropriate. She is letting go of the burden which is “social appropriateness” and also the wanting everyone to like and approve of who she is.

And in its place, she is planting the seeds for a new self. She is curious about who she is inside and how to let her heart’s light shine into the world.

That’s what I wrote, and that’s what I found: a fractured part of myself waiting to be re-embraced and healed. Now she is seen and invited to work with me, my whole self, toward making dreams into reality.

Would you be open to trying a new form of connecting with your subconscious self, or with Source (Diving Creative energy)? Try a few Stream of Consciousness journaling sessions and see what happens.

I’d love to hear what comes up for you.