Keeping a Thought Journal

When you find your best inspiration? Having those moments of inspiration, motivation or paradigm shifting thoughts can come at different times for different people. For me it tends to come in the quiet moments when I allow myself time to think and explore. Even more important than when those important thoughts come to mind, I find it only becomes meaningful if I write it down.

Let’s face it, I’m getting older and my memory isn’t what it used to be. I know, it’s not a pleasant thought. Plus with the drug treatments I’ve been on I experience what many call the “cancer fog” as a side effect. Especially my short term memory. I’m such a creature of habit and routine that my wife could ask me to do something when was at work only 10 minutes away and by the time I was leaving the office the task was already forgotten. I’d head straight home following my regular course. Just the other day she asked me to stop by somewhere on the way home from our date with friends. I drove straight home and didn’t remember I had skipped the requested stop off until half an hour later. Good thing she loves me right?

The reality is I can’t just write this off to age or even that side effect of chemo drugs. These thoughts we have are often fleeting, and while significant, they will get pushed out of consciousness quickly and forgotten unless recorded somewhere. So in whatever form is effective for you, you have to get these thoughts documented so you can remember and revisit to realize their full potential in your life. Here’s my process.

First, find quiet moments to think. It doesn’t really matter how you do it, but it will likely take a conscious effort to make that time. For some it’s in prayer or mediative periods during the day. For others it may be just turning off all other input like phones, music and even closing that book that has you hooked. For me I find some of my best thoughts in the midst of a noisy spin class, long ride, or a yoga practice when my body can be engaged but my mind is free to drift and explore whatever is on my mind at that time. The metronome of my legs pumping through at a steady rhythm is what sets me free into some of my deepest meditative sessions.

Letting my mind run in a freeform pattern is also a big key into a successful session of thought exploration. Often I’ll start with a catalyst of something that’s been on my mind, perhaps something I need to give focus to or where I’m seeking a solution to a problem. Perhaps there is something I don’t see a solution being possible and I just need to wrap my head around it and allow for better understanding or just coming to terms with what it means to me right now. But from there, I have to allow my mind to go free flow wherever it is going to go. If I put restrictions on my thought process I am limiting the potential of what I may discover. In the same vein I also don’t set expectations of what I may realize during a time of pondering and exploration. Just let it happen and be what it will be. This is where I find better peace and understanding.

All these times of thought bring benefit, but they bring the most lasting impact when I write down everything I find poignant or inspiring exactly in that very moment. Don’t let a thought be fleeting and expect you will remember it later. It may feel so significant as it comes to mind that you think there’s no way I’ll forget that. It takes all of 30 seconds for me to be into my next wave of thoughts to have the previous ones already shifted out of focus and lost to the stream of consciousness I’m following. So to rectify this you’ll often find me picking up my phone in the middle of spin class with the notes app open tapping in a quick few words to put that thought to digital memory. Even just the act of doing this documentation better cements the thought itself to memory for me versus just trying to tell myself it’s thought worth remembering. Then in my continuing free flow of thoughts I find myself adding supporting bullet points to the original thought because I’ve given significance by writing it down.

Many thoughts I have in those moments may not feel as significant later. That’s perfectly ok. In that moment it carried importance to me, and perhaps later they may again. I keep a documentation of these free flow moments within various notes, and sometimes I’ll come back to that to just read through and see where my mind was going at various times. Often those thoughts will become the seed I start with in another session of pondering and seeking understanding in my current stage in my personal journey.

I can’t say I’m perfect in this endeavor of writing down all my thoughts and new understanding as it happens, but I try. And when I do, I find my thoughts to take on better structure and understanding, especially in times when I feel most unstable or troubled by circumstances out of my control. Unplugging from outside influence or distraction to allow for freedom to think provides much needed time to seek understanding and peace during difficult times, and writing down those thoughts that come during exploration gives much needed cementing of understanding and familiarity with those thoughts in the midst of uncertainty.

So don’t worry about how well you might write or how coherent or significant any of your thoughts may be. Just take time to write in whatever form gives you help in your own personal journey each day. Whether they turn into tomes of deep thoughts and inspiration or simply a tool in which you better remember your daily meanderings, keeping a simple thought journal is worth the little bit of time and effort it takes.

I’m curious as to what others do similar or perhaps even better in your own way to foster and document important thoughts and inspiration in your lives. I’m always open to finding better ways and learning whats others do that can be better than what I’ve tried. What is your method of learning, understanding and remembering what you’ve gained?

Today's photo was actually taken 8 years ago. Wow, that long seems crazy. It was in the midst of my one and only daily 365 photo effort. I titled this one at the time "Seeking Inspiration." A good reminder now matter what time of life, we are always looking for better understanding and guidance.