journaling

April is over halfway gone and summer is finally on the horizon. Our windows are at least cracked most days and Minnesota had its first thunderstorm. And with that rain and lightning came the final seasonal node of spring: Grain Rain. Like Clear and Bright, the Grain Rain seasonal node is both wood and earth, carrying the upward energy of generation and the tumultuous energy of transformation. There are steps we can take to harmonize these two energies, ranging from how to eat to how to journal. But as always, the first step to resonating with a seasonal node is to understand its flow. Photo by Rocsana Nicoleta Gurza from Pexels

Grain Rain: Transformation into Summer

April is over halfway gone and summer is finally on the horizon.

Our windows are at least cracked most days and Minnesota had its first thunderstorm. And with that rain and lightning came the final seasonal node of spring: Grain Rain.

Like Clear and Bright, the Grain Rain seasonal node is both wood and earth, carrying the upward energy of generation and the tumultuous energy of transformation.

There are steps we can take to harmonize these two energies, ranging from how to eat to how to journal. But as always, the first step to resonating with a seasonal node is to understand its flow.

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By Jessica Gustafson, ago
This past winter has been long, cold, and dark. Hopefully, you haven’t accomplished much. I mean that in all sincerity. After all, winter is the season of hibernation; we’re not supposed to accomplish much. Winter reminds us that rest is important. I say so often that rest is the root of productivity, something that a culture obsessed with action often forgets. But rest is also the root of creativity and motivation. If we spend winter resting appropriately, not only can we recover physically, but we can recover mentally and spiritually as well. In other words, in order to be truly prepared for the dynamic, generative, and upward movement of spring we have to engage with and process the still, slow, and inward movement of winter. And the best way to do that is through journaling.

Born from yin: Six journaling prompts for the end of winter

This past winter has been long, cold, and dark. Hopefully, you haven’t accomplished much. I mean that in all sincerity. After all, winter is the season of hibernation; we’re not supposed to accomplish much.

Winter reminds us that rest is important.

I say so often that rest is the root of productivity, something that a culture obsessed with action often forgets.

But rest is also the root of creativity and motivation. If we spend winter resting appropriately, not only can we recover physically, but we can recover mentally and spiritually as well.

In other words, in order to be truly prepared for the dynamic, generative, and upward movement of spring we have to engage with and process the still, slow, and inward movement of winter. And the best way to do that is through journaling.

By Jessica Gustafson, ago
I have always been a huge fan of journaling. Rather, I’ve been a huge fan of collecting pretty journals that sit, mostly empty, on my shelf because they’re meant for a particular subject. It takes a long time to fill up a “business journal” and a “gratitude journal” and a “clinic journal” plus every other type of journal you could conceive of. So when I heard Katie Dalebout’s podcast on Being Boss I was naturally intrigued. I think what convinced me to buy the book was when she talked about her journal collection. At one point, Dalebout had the same problem I had. Tons of journals with tons of empty pages. But because of how Dalebout breaks down her journaling “tools”, empty pages become less of a problem. Partially because it stops mattering what you put in what journal. In fact, for some tools she recommends nothing fancy at all and uses a legal pad. Some tools aren’t even in journals at all, but rather in a phone or a jar (no, really.) By the end of the podcast episode I knew what I wanted for my birthday – I wanted to get Let it Out and start using up my journals. But in the meantime, I needed to find out who Katie Dalebout was and what she was all about.

Book Review: Let It Out by Katie Dalebout

I have always been a huge fan of journaling. Rather, I’ve been a huge fan of collecting pretty journals that sit, mostly empty, on my shelf because they’re meant for a particular subject. It takes a long time to fill up a “business journal” and a “gratitude journal” and a “clinic journal” plus every other type of journal you could conceive of. So when I heard Katie Dalebout’s podcast on Being Boss I was naturally intrigued.

I think what convinced me to buy the book was when she talked about her journal collection. At one point, Dalebout had the same problem I had. Tons of journals with tons of empty pages.

But because of how Dalebout breaks down her journaling “tools”, empty pages become less of a problem. Partially because it stops mattering what you put in what journal. In fact, for some tools she recommends nothing fancy at all and uses a legal pad. Some tools aren’t even in journals at all, but rather in a phone or a jar (no, really.)

By the end of the podcast episode I knew what I wanted for my birthday – I wanted to get Let it Out (affiliate link) and start using up my journals. But in the meantime, I needed to find out who Katie Dalebout was and what she was all about.

(more…)
By Jessica Gustafson, ago