For the month of December, I am going to write an hour for myself everyday. That includes 30 minutes of anything related to personal writing projects—could be writing blog posts, editing blog posts, figuring out how to use Squarespace, writing to-do lists, reading past works and making comments—and the other 30 minutes are for my Morning Pages.

If you don’t know what Morning Pages are, they’re three handwritten pages written in a notebook. I take about 30 minutes to complete the three pages. The practice was coined by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way. The Morning Pages are for writing down anything—worries, ideas, streams of consciousness, or simply writing “I’ve got nothing to write” until something else sparks onto the page. She says that writing the Morning Pages puts all the stuff that’s inside your head onto the page, and thus you’re less likely to think about those things when you need to sit down and actually do your art (in my case, writing). I can’t say for sure I’m not worrying about stuff when I’m creating, but maybe I’m less so since I’ve started. I’ve only missed one day of the Morning Pages since starting them in July. So that’s a big accomplishment I’d say.

You, the reader, might not be seeing posts everyday, but I’m tinkering away on a daily basis.

This is my tentative plan, which I’ve flexibly followed this week:

645AM: Wakeup | 700-745AM: Work out | 745AM-815AM: Breakfast | 815AM-825AM: Shower | 830-900AM: Morning Pages | 900-930AM: Writing

There isn’t really any idling in this schedule. The YouTuber I’ve been watching might refer to the Breakfast or Shower times as “Active Rest.” I’m not doing anything per se, but I am engaging my mind and body.

An hour a day to myself—that’s what I’m aiming for creatively.

Before actually writing for a deadline, I’ve:

• Watched three episodes of The Good Place.

• Eaten the last bits of Sour Cream and Cheddar chips.

• Written this post.

• Thought about cleaning the apartment

• Eaten lunch while watching The Good Place.

Very productive day so far I’d say.

I realized that writing my Morning Pages takes about 30 minutes, And 30 minutes feels very doable to work on this website. I’ve decided that could include writing, editing a drafted post, or figuring out how to use the website.

Like just today, I figured out how to resize the photos for the blog post landing page (Aren’t I so web-saavy using words like “landing page” and “resize”?!). But then it got me thinking, “Do I need to add photo to every blog post?” I feel annoyed at the idea. This’ll just become one big stock image library search engine for pictures about “writing” and “typing on laptop.”

I used to write all the time when I was performing standup comedy—constantly engaging my mind and jotting down frivolities. That’s what the Morning Pages are for now. This website is a bit more intentional. Less blah and more ahhh. That could make for a good t-shirt.

That is my intention.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before! I’m a big believer in “asking the universe,” and verbally putting my dreams out there, thus solidifying my intentions to achieve those dreams. But I could’ve been “asking the Jooniverse” this whole time. In a way, I guess that IS what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way, written by Julia Cameron. The book has been around for over 25 years and those who’ve read it sing its praises. “It changed my life!” “It made me the artist I am today!” “I used it as kindling, and it saved my life!” People LOVE this book.

Personally, it’s been a reinforcement of what I already practice—asking the universe (or as Julia says to ask the creative God), believing in self-worth, believing in play, and staying away from toxic people who—intentionally or not—knock down my dreams because they feel their dreams have been blocked. I’ve adopted what she calls the Morning Pages, which are three handwritten pages of thoughts put down in a notebook every morning. I am proud to say that I’ve kept my streak since July when I started. The Morning Pages, as she says in the book, have sprung up creativity, desires, and dreams, one of which has led me to start a blog.

To be a writer, I must write.

I’ve been reading pages from my journal to my partner of all my past entries about her—first dates, first time we kissed, going out to clubs, meeting her friends, making dinner together, etc. But the feelings were SO wonderfully raw and fun to read. That’s what I want for this blog—to explore, to reminisce, and to keep writing, so I can eventually find my “voice” and write as I speak but maybe more focused.

Marc Maron credits the time he spent talking about his cat, Monkey, as his way of finding his comedic voice. That was inspiring. Having to talk I think in the talk of mundane everyday, he couldn’t help but find what made him happy, sad, angry, etc, and able to turn that into talk radio. Everything from his mouth became effortless.

Writing will always be a struggle. But I don’t want to dread my first drafts anymore. I want to playfully dig in and write furiously, THEN look back and judge my writing. The biggest hurdle is getting over the feeling that my writing’s not good as I’m doing it. But if it’s my voice, there isn’t any other way to write it, so I may as well try to type as quickly as I think—then go back later to fine-tune it. What comes out of my head, onto my fingertips, to the page is correct at the time it needs to be.

Jooniverse, I beseech thee: Showeth me a path to my “voice!”