I consider this a superpower. Most people will think this is nuts. When they were in school, they hated writing, so when you wrote your last paper, you were grateful to be forever done with that part of your life. A strange thing happened to me a few years ago. I started writing every day. Just whatever came to my mind, and whatever I was thinking about that day, I would write that down. This has become a daily exercise and now has extended into other forms of writing as well. What started as a quick journal entry each day has now mushroomed into at least a few thousand words a day either in a blog, article, or other effort I am engaged in. I mention this not because of the obvious benefits but because of the therapeutic effect it has had on me.
For some reason, writing every day has proven to be a great mechanism for allowing my mind to find rest as I ponder, reflect, and concentrate on a particular topic. The initial resistance is always there, even now. I think I am well over 3,000 days in a row of writing, but even after all that repetition, my mind still resists the initial attempt. When I am staring at a blank note (I use Evernote), I can think of a million other things that I would rather be doing then spend time writing my thoughts down. What is interesting is that once I force myself to do so, less than ten minutes into the exercise, I am well engaged and no longer have that resistance. In the case of what I am working on right at the moment, that resistance ended just about the end of the first paragraph. This melting down of resistance has been a great tool that I use all the time now. I know and understand my mental resistance, and I find that I can defeat it much easier now than I used to be able to do so. I credit this fully to my writing habit. I now can tell that stupid side of my brain that resists any effort to go away, and I can just put my head down and do the activity that I know is good for me.
In addition to being able to master my natural resistance to effort, I also find that writing has caused me to seek sources of inspiration and motivation as a constant part of my daily routine. I am always seeking, listening, and capturing ideas and thoughts as they come at me. Everything to me now looks like potential writing material. I understand now how famous writers like Stephen King or Brandon Sanderson can become so prolific in their writing. They are on the same course as I am. I could conceivably channel this superpower into fiction writing, but that is not my interest at the moment. However, I now understand how and why they are able to put out more volume than most authors. Once you commit to an everyday process, you get better and better at it. You also get better and looking for and sucking up ideas like a sponge.
Idea flow is one thing, but even better, it has become the mindful state that I am in while writing. When I am flowing ideas out, my brain goes into a rather still state. Normally, my brain activity is in constant spikes and depressions, but when writing, I am steady. I have often wondered if I could tell a significant difference in brain wave activity while writing versus doing another activity if I sat under a biofeedback machine. The reason that I can say this is that I made a 365 commitment to meditate every day for 365 days in a row. That taught me what this feeling of “being mindful” feels like. When I write, the feeling is exactly the same.
I am going to hesitate to say this, but I think I actually “love” writing now. That pains me to say because most of my life, I said the opposite. Now, I just do not feel like I can end the day without recording at least one blog entry; I feel restless and unable to relax until I have sat down and written at least 1000 words. I have had many people approach me and say, “You should…” and offer some advice on how to monetize my writing. Honestly, to me, it has become just what I do. I wonder what it will be like when I am on day 20,000 of continuous blog entries.
