This Wednesday Wisdom is a tip to help you think about journaling as a conversation with a very dear friend, instead of an English assignment with a minimum word count and penmanship counts.

It helps if you can sit down with your journal at the same time every day and build a little ritual around the experience. Building writing time into your daily life will add to your ability to drop into the flow of your thoughts and give you access to that part of yourself (heart/soul/spirit) able to download messages from your subconscious you are ready to receive.

In other words, give yourself permission to receive inspiration and information from sources other than your head.

Yes, I mean it. Turn off the computer receivers and engage with your intuitive guidance system.

Think back to when you were little, did you make up stories and pretend to be your favorite movie star or action hero?

And what if I told you that pretending in the past you were something you wanted to be could be the basis of your story right now?

I used to stand in front of my mother’s big round dressing table mirror and pretend I was being interviewed by Johnny Carson. I held my hairbrush like a microphone and gushed to Johnny about when the writing bug bit me, about the poetry in my song lyrics, or the inspiration for the play’s dynamic character development.

I had this vision that I’d make an impact on the world, you see. Whether the rest of the world believed in me yet, that was an entirely different matter.

I grew up, and it did matter whether anyone believed I’d accomplish what I dreamt of doing. When others doubted my abilities, so did I.

I kept dreaming. My dream of being a wife and mother did come true. It took patience and flexibility in how it eventually happened. Infertility put us on a different path. We adopted a beautiful baby girl who grew in my heart instead of under my heart.

No more pretending that I was a mom. That dream was realized. I had my own little family where I was baking cookies, sewing ice skating/dance costumes, and attending school activities.

But that was only part of my role. I was great at the supporting role. And also I knew there was more for me than just another character in my own life.

Do you ever feel you are playing a role where someone else is the Heroine? That you are a supporting player?

What if you knew how to be the leading lady in your own life as well as fulfilling your dreams to be the person you were designed to be?

No, I don’t have a crystal ball.

Nor am I secretly a Hollywood movie producer.

And no, I’m not your fairy godmother who will wave a magic wand to make all of your dreams come true.

You are the one with the magic wand. It’s at the end of your fingertips when you pick up a pen to write and have those important conversations with yourself on the page.

I am someone who believes adamantly in the power of the pen.

You can rewrite your story from where you are right now to where you want to be.

If things are not happening that you don’t like, you can change them.

Yes, I said you can change them.

Ok. Ok. I realize there is a lot we can’t change—the weather, for instance, gravity or the seasons. Yet, there are many, many opportunities where you and I can directly influence the outcome.

Such as?

How about your attitude? Your actions do matter!

And how do you talk to yourself? Your words matter!

Accountability isn’t just something you do in a relationship with others; it’s how you show up for yourself.

After my second breast cancer diagnosis, I decided that I’d make myself a priority in my life. My recovery depended on me rewriting my story. Writing has always been a way for my head to communicate with my heart.

After going through this life experience for the third time in 2022, writing has become even more important as a healing tool in processing the messages I am here to deliver to the world.

I’m here to say that although you may not know it yet, you have a message to deliver to the world as well.

Journaling is how you start to rewrite your story and do something nice for yourself. It is a simple way for you to discover your story. Putting pen to paper is a fantastic way to receive messages from your soul by simply being open to receiving a daily download.

Don’t worry about having a beautiful leather-bound journal or that you won’t know what to say. I guarantee that all you have to do is keep your hand moving across the page. It doesn’t matter if you use a spiral-bound notebook or a beautiful flowery journal. The important thing is that you show up on the page every day for at least five minutes. Setting a timer for those five minutes keeps you from looking at the clock during the writing session. The idea is to write. Don’t think about if you misspelled something, wonder if you needed a comma or semi-colon. Write. And keep writing for a solid five minutes.

Ready to write? It’s time to say something nice to yourself!

I can’t wait to read how you rewrite your story!