For years, my family lived in the Pacific Northwest. It is exceedingly rare for homes in the PNW to have central air conditioning. For most of the year, when temperatures are mild, this isn’t a big deal. But for a few weeks each summer, when the thermometer registered temps of 90 degrees F (or higher, blergh!), the lack of air conditioning became a very big deal. We opened all the windows at night and in the early morning, employed a strategic assembly of noisy box fans, cooked outside, etc etc….and still just roasted.
After several years of writing just a few lines a day in a Gradual Journal, I noticed something–every summer, during the steamiest, most uncomfortable weather, my husband and I fought. I routinely wrote entries that were a variation on “hubby and I are both grouchy, and we argued yet again”. Without fail, living in our blazing hot little house led to a higher frequency of irritable interactions in my marriage…which always resolved naturally when the weather settled back down in the fall.
Writing in a Gradual Journal helps me to recognize patterns. I’m not talking about patterns that you follow when you’re sewing or building something, but “the regular way in which something happens or is done” (thanks, OED!). Through my journaling practice, I’ve become aware of many patterns in my life.
Here are a few of my personal patterns that became clear only as I regularly wrote in a five year journal:
Staying up late seldom leads to a good day the next day, for me or anyone else around me.
Summer is a challenging season when all my kids are home and new routines are needed.
I don’t know if it’s something about back to school season or what, but my husband regularly buys a new video game each fall and then spends quite a bit of time playing through September. I never noticed this until I’d written for a few years and spotted the trend.
Spending time outside, in nature, does wonders for my mood and spirits. Without fail.
Routines are important to me. When I establish them, and stick to them, life is a little easier.
Writing in a Gradual Journal has uncovered patterns that I don’t think I would have noticed or discovered otherwise.
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