Journalling the Journey

So, without making a resolution for the new year (because I don't believe in them), I did silently decide to use my journal as a tool for self discovery more often and without sticking to a strict schedule, I have been making time to write every morning, for as long as I can.

The question (I wrote questing) I have been posing in my journal for the longest time is about where my passion lay, what project would ignite a fire in my heart and get me moving. I lead occasional retreats, I teach occasionally, I work on my own writing sporadically, but no one thing was calling me.

Then I began writing with the Writing down Your Soul book by Janet Conner, http://janetconner.wordpress.com and asking my higher self or Spirit, what do I love? What do I want to manifest (I know, I always ask this question and have written about it before, but it's been a long transition to acceptance)?

The answer is never far away, is it? Through journalling, and through some astrological help from my sister Sue, I did get some clarity. What I was resisting (and journalling about) was that this is a time for rest, for renewal, for getting in touch with the power of Presence, which is what I want to encourage in others.  In other words, it has been a time of putting into practice what I preach.  And my impatience to have a new project was preventing me from enjoying this beautiful present moment. I kept journalling about where I was headed, always looking into the future.

Transitions are always (or usually) uncomfortable. You close one door, then look for the other to open. Sometimes, as Joan Borysenko ( www.joanborysenko.com) put it in a workshop I attended, you stand in the hallway, in limbo, waiting for that other door to present itself.

Journalling is a way of promoting patience with the process, asking the questions, receiving guidance, and hopefully being present and compassionate with yourself until clarity comes.  You know how it works when you've been waiting for a bus forever, and just when you are about to give up and find another way, the bus arrives? Or just when you think you're on the wrong road, this highway is going nowhere, a sign appears that your destination is near.

Journally for me has been a kind of navigational system, helping me link up with the satellite of higher intelligence within me.  A higher wisdom does come through, will come through, if you keep asking the question and stay open.  Listen for your dreams too, for they hold clues to your deeper awareness, what's going on beneath the surface life you are wading in.

Isn't it amazing that all this time, journal writing classes have been my part-time job, but I didn't consider it a major passion.  But it has been reignited in me as a way to reach women, to provide a safe space and support for their own wisdom to unfold. And a way to teach the thing I need to learn the most. The thing I was looking for was right under my nose (isn't it always?)

nameste,
jenn