Then I started thinking, while it might be an amazing task, I'm not sure how feasible it is, especially since I've already got a lot on my plate. So I'm going with Plan B (and I'll try to incorporate something new into my days, which will help out with said Plan B).
There's an exercise that I've done before from a book called Page by Page by Heather Sellers. In the book, she says if you do it ten days in a row, "your life will change." I've always* wanted to follow through with it. So here's what I'm gonna do for 30 days.
Page by Page, Exercise 13 (page 60)
- Number a page from 1-10
- Set a timer for 3 minutes
- Make a list of ten things you saw two days ago, starting from the morning and ending with the night. Keep your hand moving. If you get stuck, draw slow circles. You want to end up at exactly number ten at the end of three minutes. Don't write a novel at each item, just a few anchoring words to capture the image.
- Three minutes, one list.
- Look over your list. Let one item pick you, or if nothing leaps out, do number three. Number three is magic and it always works.
- Set the timer for ten minutes.
- Write the item number and the words at the top of a fresh sheet.
- Some rules: You must keep your pencil moving. You must write slowly, all caps, skipping lines. Write in simple clear sentences. Don't try to be too fancy. Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Just write in nouns and verbs, very simply, very slowly.
- For ten minutes. Write what you see. Write what you hear.
Apparently it's all about creating ritual. And forcing yourself to just write what you remember (and I reckon that after a few days I'll subconsciously be looking for new images/details to try to remember for two days later). And, as busy as I know I'm going to be, if I can't
I'll type them up and share them, maybe not every day, but there will be thirty lists and thirty sets of observations.
What are you doing?
* Okay, you caught me. "Always" is a bit of an overstatement. I bought the book 4 or 5 years ago, and I've wanted to do it since then.
