Many of us feel at times as though our life is without purpose or fulfillment. We either yearn for a state of happiness in the future or recall the ‘good ole days’. Things were great way back when we were kids in school playing hide and seek carelessly in the free sessions. Or things will be great once the loan gets settled and I could take my family on a vacation to Lalaland.
In between this phase of existing in the past and the future, we give little time to what IS. And like a camera focused on far horizons blurs out the detail up close, the mind too begins to see the present as seemingly mundane.
So by the time the loan settles and the family is in Lalaland, if you have not paid attention to the Present, you have traded 10 years of significant life for 2 weeks in Lalaland. And some weeks later, the Lalaland sojourn becomes another snapshot to be cherished in a life that has milestones every few years. Worse off are those, who have saved their lives in snapshots where life was apparently cruel to them.
The key to fulfillment is to see significance in every day rather than treat life as a series of frequent or infrequent milestones. And the way to do it is to make a journal of your life.
This sounds like esoteric philosophy but in essence it is less different than keeping a photo album of your baby as it grows. If you approach your life with the same excitement as the mother of a newly born child, you will realize just how significant the little details can be.
How To Do It?
- Devote a notebook specifically for the journal
- At the end of each day, write a small summary of what happened in the day, how you reacted to it, your feelings or anything else that engaged your thoughts.
- At the end of each week, summarize the daily entries and add insights to events as you go.
- At the end of each month summarize the weekly entries.
- The monthly entry is to be summarized every quarter.
- The quarterly summaries help with the annual summary.
More tips to Journal Writing:
- Write anything even if you feel what you write in nonsensical. You will notice that with time, content improves in depth. So you could begin by writing that all you did in the day was to watch TV, eat popcorn and browse the net. For instance, you might begin to notice with time, that there is more to life than engaging the eyes only. Journaling is an art and needs time to develop, but once it does it is truly worth the effort.
- If your daily routine cannot have you writing judiciously everyday, then at least pen down the insights or significant event as and when you notice them. Like ‘I Spy’, the more you attune to significance, the more you will notice it around you.
Comments
3 responses to “Journaling – Seeing Significance in the Seemingly Mundane”
Our teacher Max Babri made us write one page describing what we had learnt in the class as a regular assignment. To be honest we all thought it to be a waste of time then. However, as I look back it was the most profound exercise. It not only helped in clarifying the concepts but also developed an ability to articulate them. I think that all schools should encourage this.
I read once, “The best place to solve any problem is on paper!”
It seems odd but at times I tried it, it worked. Maybe its that there in too much going on in our minds but once we get it out we realize its not that much. Maybe seeing all pieces together helps us solve the puzzle.
One more act associated with writing, I feel, is the ability to ACT. It is not a Passive activity like watching TV and listening to music and gives us a tremendous insight.
Thank you for your comments Jawad!