Joyful January - Workshop 1

Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them. – Marcus Aurelius

Word has it that January is the bleakest month of the year — the festivities and holidays are over and the spring seems oh so far away (unless you’re in the southern hemisphere of course in which case hope you’re having a lovely summer!). But here at The Mindful Writer we are banishing any sign of January blues with joyful reading and writing.

My journey to living and writing more mindfully has been built on finding the simple pleasures there are to be found in life. And what I have discovered is that there is always so much joy to be found if you just open your heart and mind to it. Yes, there are terrible things happening in the world but by focusing on them, and letting them make us feel sad and angry, we don’t make any difference to them at all. Instead, we can add more peace, love and unity to the universe by noticing all the good things instead and filling our writing with them too.

We are all connected by the energy that creates everything in our universe and in the film, The 1 Field, the collective power of tapping into this universal energy was demonstrated through many different experiments. The results were astounding and show that we are just beginning to understand the power of human consciousness and what we can do if we focus our minds on a particular outcome. This is why I everything I do at here at The Mindful Writer is driven by the desire to bring more stories to the world of connection and collaboration. I really do believe they can make a difference.

So let’s start our Joyful January with a reading before we get to the writing exercises that are going to fill your days and your notepads with simple pleasures for the next two weeks.

This poem is found in the collection, Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver.

---

I love this poem because it reminds us to feel the wonder we should that our sun rises every day to bring light and sustenance to us all.

Photo by Paulina K on Unsplash

In our rush about modern world, the fact that everything is amazing has been forgotten by most so this month we’re going to focus on rediscovering our awe for the world.

And once we’ve done that, we’re going to use that awe and hopefully some of the lovely sentences we’ve written inspired by it, to bring joy and hope to our writing in the second workshop of Joyful January, which will go live in a couple of weeks.

Writing Exercises

Every day for the next two weeks, twice a day, stop what you’re doing and look around you. Notice something amazing and write a sentence about it in your notepad. Try to do it at different times each day if you can.

It doesn’t have to be related to the natural world and can be anything in your life that, when you really take the time to notice it, brings you joy.

Here’s mine from yesterday:

Steam wafts from the misshapen mug bringing smells of summer to the cold and grey winter kitchen.

Have fun finding the simple pleasures in your days and capturing them to use in your writing.

With love,

---

If you know of any other writers who would like this post, please do let them know and help spread the word of The Mindful Writer.