The title of this post is not at all a homage to Chetan Bhagat or his famous book. In fact, I have yet to read any of his fine works. I have scanned a couple of columns and a few pages of One Night At the Call Center. They were quiet enough for my nerves and patience.
But I digress. This post is not about him. There might be one in the future if his writing continues to annoy me.
But for better or worse, "five point journal" is how I think of a mini habit I have picked up since the 1st of February. I have started journaling; an activity that I have tried and successfully given up many, many times, simply because after a few days, either I lost enthusiasm, or decided my life just wasn't clocking up enough excitement on a daily basis.
This time around, however, although I am not sure where the inspiration came from (must be a blog or a book) but the execution has been going well. I have set aside a journal...nothing too fancy because then I feel this incredible pressure to write fancy words. But this one is fairly simple and has ruled pages. And every morning, after I have turned on the coffee-maker for my two (I mean three really) cups of coffee and I can hear it gurgling and whispering like a forest stream, I sit down with my journal at my study table and list five awesome things that have happened the previous day. I don't write at night because I am just too tired to compose another sentence. I don't write lengthy paragraphs or sentences, just short ones that give enough information. BUT most importantly, I don't write any stuff that makes me or has made me remotely angry, sad or disappointed.
Then how on earth do I come up with five points? Simple. I include good deeds such as if a student has stumped me by asking an incredible question that I had never considered before; if I tried a new flavor of black tea and I know in my gut that it's going to be my new favorite for a month, if I ran into someone I haven't seen in a while and we had the best conversation while skipping around automatic doors, hoping not to crash into others, or if I worked for more than two hours on my own writing and made important changes to my manuscript.
There are also days when I have sighed theatrically and stared at the blank page, struggling to write more than two sentences because, hell, nothing and I mean nothing nice has happened in the last 24 hours. But then I dig deep and list, perhaps the most obvious details, but ones that now that they have been committed to paper, will always be saved for posterity.
But I digress. This post is not about him. There might be one in the future if his writing continues to annoy me.
But for better or worse, "five point journal" is how I think of a mini habit I have picked up since the 1st of February. I have started journaling; an activity that I have tried and successfully given up many, many times, simply because after a few days, either I lost enthusiasm, or decided my life just wasn't clocking up enough excitement on a daily basis.
This time around, however, although I am not sure where the inspiration came from (must be a blog or a book) but the execution has been going well. I have set aside a journal...nothing too fancy because then I feel this incredible pressure to write fancy words. But this one is fairly simple and has ruled pages. And every morning, after I have turned on the coffee-maker for my two (I mean three really) cups of coffee and I can hear it gurgling and whispering like a forest stream, I sit down with my journal at my study table and list five awesome things that have happened the previous day. I don't write at night because I am just too tired to compose another sentence. I don't write lengthy paragraphs or sentences, just short ones that give enough information. BUT most importantly, I don't write any stuff that makes me or has made me remotely angry, sad or disappointed.
Then how on earth do I come up with five points? Simple. I include good deeds such as if a student has stumped me by asking an incredible question that I had never considered before; if I tried a new flavor of black tea and I know in my gut that it's going to be my new favorite for a month, if I ran into someone I haven't seen in a while and we had the best conversation while skipping around automatic doors, hoping not to crash into others, or if I worked for more than two hours on my own writing and made important changes to my manuscript.
There are also days when I have sighed theatrically and stared at the blank page, struggling to write more than two sentences because, hell, nothing and I mean nothing nice has happened in the last 24 hours. But then I dig deep and list, perhaps the most obvious details, but ones that now that they have been committed to paper, will always be saved for posterity.
