The Morning I Noticed I Had Forgotten
Creative Detours & Coming Back to Writing
Have you ever looked up and realized you’d wandered off the path that once brought you joy—without even noticing you left it?
That’s where I found myself this morning. It stunned me in a quiet way.
It was like a gentle breeze rather than knocking you off your elbow as you write.
I have several writing practices I use to ensure my “real” writing is as lively and textured as possible.
My writing practices are like daily preparation for a marathon—sequential morning sprints acknowledging my role as a writer, my commitment to sharpening my skills, and holding onto details from my life so my “real” writing is filled with authenticity instead of “pretend,” even though when I write fiction or plays, it is… actually fiction.
Today when I opened my document to do the practice I call “Mining for Story/Content Gold” I found I never made a document for July’s practice.
I had forgotten—and I hadn’t noticed. A full week into this month, I finally got around to attempting what had once been routinely done during the 5 am hour.
July has become something of an experiment in several ways, but it definitely wasn’t in my mind a time to abandon one of my most fruitful practices.
Yesterday at church I chatted with one of my friends and lamented my seeming inability to be up and at ’em at 5 a.m. “I miss my 5 a.m. self. I like being up that early.” Yesterday morning I surprised myself by waking early again, and I felt so much more like myself—
Today I was again awake at 5, and again, I felt closer to my usual self—perhaps it is my usual self who recognizes how significant it was not that I abandoned myself, but that I abandoned myself and hadn’t noticed.
I haven’t gotten to the part yet where there is rousing applause and evidence I will stay the course this time.
I needed to confess.
I needed to hold myself gently, recognizing my humanity, my weakness, and my strength in allowing myself the room to ask, “What’s next?” with compassion and open the window to joyful exploration rather than scathing critique.
In the same way I walked off the path in June - I’m thinking it was my traveling that did it. I simply didn’t get back to it once I returned home.
If you’ve ever quietly wandered from your creative path without realizing it, consider this your gentle nudge back. Is there a practice—writing, walking, painting, dreaming—that you’ve abandoned without meaning to?
Take a moment today to invite yourself back without harsh criticism. You don’t need to be your personalized “bad cop.”
Instead, recognize the slight turn off course and right yourself. In the past, I have called that “writing” yourself back home.
If you would like company along the way, I’d love to hear your story.
Send me a message or comment below—what’s one creative practice you’d like to reclaim this summer?
The Next Phase of Gratitude Journaling:
Grace, Grit & Frow Video + Downloadable Mini Journal