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Dawn Herring

Refresh with Dawn Herrng

Host of #JournalChat Live on social media

Thursday, May 29, 2014

#JournalChat Live Facebook Discussion Part I 5/28/14 Topic: Your Journaling: Listen to Who You Are with special guest Marianne Rossi








I loved what Marianne said earlier about techniques helping us discover different parts to ourselves. Using different approaches to deal with emotions, struggles, blocks, resistance and confusion can really help us Listen more readily. And maybe relax a bit to help us move from that frustrated place to one where we're going with the flow with Who We Are.
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If you use a variety of techniques in your journaling practice, which one speaks to you the most, the one you always return to?
My dominant/non dominant hand technique tops my list since I use it with almost every entry.
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  • Sandra Strait I've had to use this method a lot lately. I've had persistant pain in my dominant wrist--arthritis, I think. I'm incapable of stopping my artwork, so I just switch to my other hand. It does make you approach your work differently. You become aware of the things that are second nature -- how to hold a pen, how 'not' to over-control your lines. I've been taking a watercolor class, and decided to do it all with my non-dominant hand so I can really 'learn' from the beginning.
  • Dawn Herring Wow, Sandra. I'm so glad you're able to work with your non dominant hand both with drawing and painting. I haven't used it in that way, just with writing, but I think I might just try it and see what happens! 
    22 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Sandra Strait I think many of us are subtly pressured into 'hurrying up' and getting things perfect. I find using the non-dominant hand can be frustrating because I'm so much slower, but it also makes me really think about what I'm doing and how much I'm taking for granted.
    22 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  • Marianne Ingheim Rossi So I think right now my go-to technique is the Dialogue (maybe that's because I'm in a stage of feeling fragmented). But that might change. Who knows?
  • Dawn Herring So it's slowing you down, but you're seeing the benefit of doing just that. Awesome, Sandra. Great example to all of us. 
    22 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Dawn Herring Our techniques change as we grow, Marianne. So that makes sense. I trust your fragmented feeling will change as you Dialogue with it. Starting something new can certainly make one feel that way!
    22 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Marianne Ingheim Rossi Yeah, I think different techniques speak to us at different times in our lives.
    22 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  • Sandra Strait Marianne, do you find you change even as you go through your Dialogue? I've thought about trying the technique but haven't talked myself into it yet.
  • Dawn Herring I love that, Sandra. Your comment made me laugh.
    22 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Marianne Ingheim Rossi I feel like I get clarity and compassion. Depending on who/what I'm dialoguing with. You can dialogue with anything: aspects of yourself like the Inner Child or the Inner Critic, other people, your body (when some part of my body hurts, I'll dialogue with that to figure out if there's more to it than just physical pain), feelings like Fear, creativity (I've dialogued with my Book, for example, to figure out what it wants from me), and on and on.
    22 hours ago · Unlike · 2
  • Dawn Herring That's what I love about the dialogue technique, Marianne. There are so many subjects you can talk with, whatever happens to be on your radar. You can really learn and listen with this technique and get to the bottom of trouble or resistance you're experiencing.
    21 hours ago · Like · 2
  • Sandra Strait Marianne, that makes sense. I think I have an inner critic that tells me I'm silly for talking to myself, but do it in my head all the time. I express myself so much through art rather than writing, but I think I could combine the two, and maybe find a way around that critic.
    21 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  • Marianne Ingheim Rossi How about dialoguing with your inner critic? That might be helpful. I found when dialoguing with my inner critic that she was only trying to help, to keep me safe. So I was able to reconcile the Critic with the Criticized part. Well, I'm still working on it! It's a daily process. I try not to beat myself up for beating myself up!
    21 hours ago · Unlike · 2
  • Sandra Strait This conversation makes me think of piece I'm currently sharing on my own page. I used a Chevron type to tape down my watercolor paper while trying out some 'Tao' style watercolor, and found it gave me the freedom to be funky. I wonder if something like that would work for dialoguing. Doodling a border or blocking out funky shapes and then just talking to yourself within that blocked off section.
    21 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Dawn Herring I laughed out loud at your comment about beating yourself up for beating yourself up, Marianne
    21 hours ago · Like · 2
  • Dawn Herring You're already finding a way, aren't you, Sandra?
    21 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Sandra Strait I think so. I like Marianne's idea about dialoguing with my inner critic, but I think we'd both feel safer in a blocked off section. Sort of saying while this section lasts, anything goes. After that, all stations return to normal.
    21 hours ago · Unlike · 2
  • Dawn Herring Back to regular programming, right, Sandra
    21 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Sandra Strait Exactly.
I wanted to mention Doodling all by itself as a technique. I just started doing a daily doodle in my journal sketch book and am having FUN with it. I summarize my day with a word or phrase and do it in a doodle form. Sometime I draw stuff that comes to mind that speaks to me. A picture is worth a thousand words. Another great technique that speaks.
Anyone else enjoy doodling?
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There's something about techniques that can really speak to the soul. You can go text based with dialogue, Q&A, unsent letters as Mariannesuggested, and, of course, summarizing your feelings about the day you experienced. But there's also visual: you can do mind maps, doodles, or drawings to express yourself. Intuitive drawing or painting really hits the spot for me and you can do this in an art journal too, if you're thus inclined. So many options!
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  • Marianne Ingheim Rossi Absolutely! Whatever works for ya! I've definitely gotten a lot out of trying new techniques. I used to only write these stream of consciousness rants, which is fine, but I've gotten to know different parts of myself by using other techniques, like the Dialogue. I think that different techniques tap into different parts of our psyche.
  • Lynn Fisher I happen to like keeping a journal that includes all those things. It makes looking back on a year or two, so much more fun!
    23 hours ago · Unlike · 2
  • Dawn Herring I agree, Marianne. I used to primarily just summarize my day; but as I've run into other techniques I've either read about or discovered through another journal keeper, it has really opened up new pathways of discovery. And some have become regular parts of my practice, especially now that I'm using a blank sketch book instead of a lined journal.
    23 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Dawn Herring Welcome Lynn! So this technique conversation and approach resonates.  So cool.
    23 hours ago · Like · 1

My favorite techniques for listening: Using my dominant hand and then my non dominant hand, activating both sides of the brain. I highly recommend using this method since it creates a wholistic way of viewing life, both creatively and logically.
My other favorite is Dialogue or Q&A with my Self. Very telling and informative.
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I just found a link to an interesting article by Lawrence Norfolk, 'A Notebook is a Junkyard of the Mind'.
http://www.notebookstories.com/2014/05/28/a-notebook-is-a-junkyard-of-the-mind/
A blog about notebooks, journals, moleskines, blank books, sketchbooks,...
NOTEBOOKSTORIES.COM
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  • Dawn Herring Interesting, Sandra. You can never know what will end up on the pages of a journal and in what fashion.
  • Sandra Strait I tend to have a mind that hops from one thing to another, making connections that often seem odd, but just as often lead to something creative. It was interesting to see how this author lets that all flow onto the page.
  • Dawn Herring So what you saw resonated with your practice/personality with journaling. I love it when I find something that truly resonates, like, Oh I do it that way too. 
  • Marianne Ingheim Rossi Interesting, Sandra. I use my journal kind of like a "junkyard of the mind". I think it's a great tool for writers, or creatives in general, for jotting down ideas or anything that interests you during your day. You never know what you might end up using later on in a project!
    23 hours ago · Unlike · 2

Hello, all! Please welcome back Marianne Ingheim Rossi, our special guest this week on our ‪#‎JournalChat‬ Live Facebook Group Discussion with our topic, Your Journaling: Listen to Who You Are.
I have linked Journaling and the Authentic Life, our journaling resource.
Our question for today: What Journaling Techniques are most effective for Listening to Who You Are?
Mar27Journaling and the authentic lifePosted on March 27, 2014 by...
JOURNALINGFORYOURLIFE.COM


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