My first 30 day challenge of 2022 is over!

My challenge was to write a one page journal entry everyday in an effort to get back into writing. I used to be a faithful journal writer, but I haven’t done it with any kind of consistency in years. I found that the only time I would get out my journal was at night, after a crappy day, and I would write out all of my frustrations and complaints. I rarely, if ever, wrote about good things that happened, and when I was writing about all the bad I never tried to think about a solution or a workaround to what went wrong. I never gave myself a pep talk.

That’s the difference between how I used to journal and how I journaled for this challenge.

This month, I took a few minutes in the morning before leaving for work to note the weather, how I was feeling, and something important that I needed to accomplish that day and how I could get it done. Sometimes I wrote about how I slept, if I had weird dreams, etc. I kept it simple and to the point because I only gave myself one page to write on for the day.

The first couple of weeks I had to remind myself to sit down with my journal, but then it became a part of my morning routine. I realized that by writing about that one important thing in the morning, it felt easier to tackle during the day. At night, I wrote about how the task went, added any thoughts about improvement or congratulated myself for a job well-done, as well as a brief rundown of my day/thoughts. If I was upset about something I would try to find a positive way of looking at the issue, or think of a way to deal with it should it come up again in the future. That was not easy, to be honest, finding a positive aspect to a crappy situation no matter how small it was, but I did it and I felt better when I closed the book. The bad feeling didn’t linger.

Writing one page in a journal every day seemed like a small change to make, but looking back over the month has made me realize that I have been a little more present, more upbeat, and I haven’t been dwelling on things as much, which is a big deal for me. I’m going to continue with it, maybe allow myself two pages this time. I have a really good gel pen, and my hand, which tends to not enjoy writing for long stints, didn’t have a problem with the one page, so…

I have to admit that I did miss two days for personal reasons, but I went back the next morning and made an entry for that day, even if it was just to log the weather, how I was feeling, and the one highlight of the day.

Did journaling help spark the writing flame like I had hoped? I think so. By the third week I was writing about writing rather than not thinking of it at all or pushing it aside. It may seem like the babiest of baby steps, but the fact that I am in a more positive mental place means that rather than thinking about getting back to writing with a mountain of guilt for ignoring the thing I love to do the most (the least helpful feeling ever), I am excited for February’s challenge. Just that makes a world of difference for me.

I call this 30 day challenge a success.

Reading update: I finished Chamber of Secrets, and am concentrating on Sword of Destiny now. I’m over halfway done with that one. There’s nothing quite like curling up with a book and a blanket when it’s as cold out as it has been here lately!

My next challenge will be 28 days for February: Flash fiction! 100 words or less (though if inspired I will keep going, of course!) Part of that will also be finding the best time to write and sticking to it. I think it will be early morning, like journaling, so that may mean going to bed earlier. Which means being tough on when I stop reading at night and not waiting until the book or tablet falls on my face because I fell asleep. (It happens more often than I’d like. Ow.)

Now, bring me that February horizon!