Writing love letters to myself as I heard about from Elizabeth Gilbert on Insight Timer
I love using the insight timer App to meditate. It is one of my go-to meditation apps. Besides Aaptiv which I also use for fitness because their plans rock and help to keep me motivated. Not a sales pitch. I’ll write another post later on about my favorite meditation and fitness apps.
Anyway, I was listening to this talk from Elizabeth Gilbert. She recorded it around the time when COVID was first striking and everyone was in fear. Many people still are in fear. I actually had COVID last Christmas and it was not a fun experience at all. But, I am grateful for the vaccines otherwise it could have been much worse. My mom ended up with COVID before me and because of her COPD, she ended up in the hospital for a week. So, it can be a very serious and scary thing.
Elizabeth Gilbert in the talk explained how she addresses her fears and anxieties. She writes a love letter to herself from her inner voice, higher power, greater wisdom, or whatever word appeals to you. Janet Conner often calls it the voice. Julia Cameron often calls it higher self or higher power.
It’s the loving voice, not the critical voice that we all have inside of us. That is oftentimes how you know it is from a higher source because it is loving and positive.
After I heard this I added it to my practice. I’ve been journaling on and off for a while now. Many years. But, lately, I’ve really gotten back into the habit of journaling or writing morning pages every morning. I just feel better when I do them. And even if something not so great happens to me that day I feel better equipped to handle it. I also feel like I’ve been more creative which Julia Cameron explains is one of the side effects of morning pages. And is the reason why many people start writing them in the first place.
Most days this letter is basic and goes something like this,
Dear Christina, (this does feel awkward to me at times)
You are safe. Just remember that no matter what happens you will always be cared for. You are never alone. There is no need to fear. You can make it through anything.
It usually looks something like this. It depends on the day I am having and my mood at the time I write although it is usually early in the morning. So, not much has happened yet and I’m still in a theta mind state from sleep so it is much easier for me to write then.
Even the small act of showing myself love can make a big difference in my day and life. I started getting back to good smaller habits about two months ago now. It started when I downloaded the Fabulous App. It really helped me to get back into a routine. I hadn’t had a spiritual practice or a morning routine in a while. I was familiar with it from The Miracle Morning which is a book I love in the self-help genre, And I’ve had spiritual practices and morning practices off and on for years. You can read some of my earlier posts and see this is the case. But, I’ve always had trouble making my routines stick. It lasts for a few days, weeks, or months and then I throw in the towel and get burned out.
This is the longest I have stuck with my morning routine and my positive habits in a very long time. Some of the simplest habits have actually been the most beneficial to me. But, if I didn’t have my morning meditation practice I never would have heard this talk from Elizabeth Gilbert. I am grateful for this tool in my self-help/spiritual toolbox.
It can feel a little awkward at first but I highly recommend you give it a try. If you are new to journaling or a pro at it. Try adding this to your routine.
