MARCIEGAMBETTA

How the Morning Pages Helped a Skeptic

 

     I have been doing the Morning Pages daily, with out fail. Over the past six weeks, I have noticed an improvement in my writing and I have also seen, that some of us have become more positive in our responses to our classmates. I have observed that, not only, do I write better, but the ideas come quicker and more fluidly. In the beginning I was resistant and begrudging to writing everyday, and I had to force myself to do the task. I didn't understand the point of writing about "nothing" and thought "why can't we have a topic to write about". As the weeks went on, the writing came easier. I noticed myself thinking of things I could write about. I would practice writing poetry, creative writing, and proverbs. I would give myself my own topics and for fun tell myself to write them like a expose, or an epic poem, letter, or debate.

 

     One thing I would do differently would be to come in to the assignment more positively. At first I viewed the daily writing as a chore, or obstacle to overcome. I consider writing very personal and at first was a little paranoid that someone would read my gibberish or that we would have to post it for everyone in the class to see. I appreciate that Dr. Laing De Urbina does not have us post our actual writings, but instead discuss how we came about it. I came to a realization that I could use this process to accomplish other things and I often used them to write down my daily agenda and assignments due. This helped calm me and allow me to organize and prioritized more effectively. I would look ahead in my assignments for all of my classes, and I would use the Morning Pages as testing grounds for my ideas. I could relax and let my thoughts flow. It was helpful to have the ideas to refer back to. 

 

     I think this is a great exercise and I think it will be useful to keep up the habit as I shift into other classes. My experience with the Morning Pages was initially with a doubtful attitude but this evolved into one of confidence.  I plan to approach assignments in my other classes more enthusiastically from the outset after seeing the results from this one. I can use this assignment to help future ones, because there will be a place I can experiment with my thoughts and have time to reflect on them before I actually begin.

 

     The Morning pages have helped me polish my organizational skills by forcing me to stop and think about what needs to be done, and when. They have definitely helped me with analyzing texts. I would read an assignment and then think about it, I would write ideas for analysis down in the daily writings. They have also, definitively helped me with making connections. Again, as I would be writing about other things, my mind was free to wander and I would have a sudden inspiration about a connection. I would jot it down for later reference and found this to be an invaluable tool. 

 

I would strongly encourage incoming students to begin this exercise with a positive outlook. I hope that they could use this exercise as I have, to strengthen the content of their other assignments. It's important for them to know, just the act of writing everyday, no matter the subject, spills over into other areas. From a skeptic to the incoming learners, the Morning Pages are an important asset and tool to have in your back pocket.