How the habit of putting ideas on paper can help make dreams come true

It’s practically impossible to start a year without stopping for a few minutes to remember the events experienced or to think about resolutions for the period to come. Writing a thank you letter for achievements and lessons learned or a list of intentions for the new year is more than fun and symbolic: it can be a way to structure thoughts and provoke attitudes.

The American writer Natalie Goldberg, in her book Writing with the Soul —a bestselling reference in creative writing courses— says that learning to write “is like running: the more you practice, the better you perform.”

It is not to be expected that one fine day, out of impetus or unpretentiousness, you get out of bed, put on a pair of sneakers and complete your first marathon right away — without ever having taken a measly little jog around the block. However, this is more or less our expectation when adopting a new habit. From day to night, as if by magic, we hope to wake up ready.

Nothing works very well that way. In the case of running, in addition to daily practice and the effort of getting out of bed, it is necessary to strengthen the muscles and educate movement. The big secret doesn’t seem to be hitting distance or time goals, but sustaining constancy. Writing is really a lot like that.

There are those who have a natural relationship of achievement, relief or creation with writing. Or those that focus on its practical use, restricted to the professional sphere. And there are those who have never stopped to think what space this form of expression occupies in their own lives. The fact is that with the increasing demands for attention (and distraction) of the modern world, with the stress and mental load increasing day by day, many people have discovered in writing a path to decompression and even self-knowledge.

For Fefe Resende, specialist in identity and communication, speaking aloud makes us pass the thought, randomly distributed in the mental cloud, through the filter of cognition. Writing, moreover, according to her, organizes and materializes ideas. “The more we open space to gain intimacy with this internal world, the more we can flow, deepen, connect, find meanings”. Fefe points out, however, that this skill is not a gift, but something that needs to be learned.

“The schools of cultivation of emotional balance, meditation and neuroscience are teaching us to look inside. When we undertake this exercise, we grow in the ability to express ourselves better and fine-tune what we want to put out,” says Fefe.

Writing is a tool that also works very well for Lella Sá, who recommends the practice in her courses and consultations as coach and biographical advisor. “Writing opens portals for people to be able to bring the inaudible and manage to let what we are feeling flow to take more conscious actions”.

One of the recommendations of ten out of ten books or courses on writing is to transform this activity into a daily practice. For over 30 years, writer and playwright Julia Cameron has recommended a writing activity called “morning pages” — or morning writing.

The idea is simple: write three pages by hand, on any subject, every day as your first activity. “At morning pages provoke, clarify, comfort, convince, prioritize and synchronize the day. Don’t overthink it: just put three pages on any subject on paper… And then do three more pages the next day”, explains the author.

In his best-known book, The Artist’s PathJulia proposes and points out several benefits of this practice, including the relief of mental burden and easier access to the unconscious — something that is related to psychology theories Jungian🇧🇷 The routine of writing down dreams, for example, right after waking up is one of the methods adopted by Carl Jung, and the morning pages go in the same direction.

Enthusiast of morning writing, journalist Daniela Arrais believes that the activity brought her a “huge” benefit. “I was really surprised at how much comes out of us when we commit to writing every day. These pages ended up teaching me more about myself, about my moment in life, ”she said.

According to Dani, writing first thing in the morning impacts the quality of your entire day. “When I start the day writing, I am more centered, more aware. It seems that I put more intention, that I know more about who I am and what I want.”

However, anyone who imagines that the habit of writing has a merely reflective and introspective objective is mistaken. The practice also seems to provoke changes and attitudes. “If you’re writing and spend five days complaining about the same thing, on the sixth day you can’t take it anymore. So, it’s almost as if you were looking for a solution”, says Dani.

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The physiotherapist Natália Gastão also adopted the practice. According to her, morning writing supported the creation of new habits, such as reading and exercising. “Writing brought me some discipline and helped me put new habits into practice. I started reading (there were 40 books in 2021) and doing yoga every day.”

When he started the practice, after participating in a workshop on the subject, he spent more than 200 days writing daily. “The notebook has become my safe place, where I vent, organize myself and talk to my inner creator”, she said.

Less productive, more intuitive

Seeking a reason for what we do, from a utilitarian perspective of things, seems absolutely necessary in the competitive, performance-oriented society in which we live. We are almost always asking ourselves, “What am I going to do this for?” What do I get from that?”. Or even, in the case of writing: “For whom am I going to write?”. The suggestion seems to be, however, to make this experience something that can provide the personal benefit of getting to know yourself better.

For that, you have to allow yourself the experience. “There are people who don’t even write when they have an inspiration, because that path is not a possibility. It’s like a channeled river. You have to open the channels of fluency so that these waters flow freely in the natural path that is creativity”, says Mari Pelli, writer and facilitator of creative and learning processes. For her, it is essential that each person discover how their own process happens. “Consistency certainly helps, but it doesn’t mean it has to be every day. On the contrary, it can be when you feel like it to be a pleasant thing and no longer an obligation, ”she believes.

For Lella Sá, more than organization and planning, the creation of a writing habit necessarily invites us to discipline our will and educate our thoughts. “Learning to discipline your will is to create favorable environments for you to actually be able to do what you really want. Having a pre-defined time in the agenda is fundamental, ”she says.

Another common question for those who want to try writing is: what to write about? After all, for some people following a free and intuitive writing proposal generates insecurity. Too much freedom can also paralyze. To avoid this situation, it is possible to use notebooks with pre-formulated questions and planners or make lists.

Lella believes that the planners are important tools that can outline and raise key questions. “It’s great to talk more about a feeling or an issue you want to address,” she says.

Graduated in graphic design and passionate about stationery, Dandara Panaroni created a company of notebooks and organization tools and annually produces materials with different objectives and uses, but with a common point: to be instruments that help people to materialize dreams and organize their lives. “There are several studies that show that when we write our plans, our brain understands that there begins a mental attitude and begins to generate energy and more effective connections to carry out that activity”, highlights Dandara.

She also emphasizes the therapeutic power of these initiatives and observes an increasing demand from people seeking to connect with themselves. The biggest challenge, she points out, is maintaining energy and consistency. “We started the year full of expectations, dreams, goals and as the months went by, we lost focus.” Consequently, a challenge arises: to overcome the feeling of frustration when those goals do not materialize.

According to Mari Pelli, the records are like a photograph of the desires of the moment and stopping to observe them a while later can be very interesting. She believes that a good exercise is to look at what has not been done with curiosity. “We can say: putz, this didn’t happen here, but what happened instead? What paths has life taken? How did she surprise me? What best appeared? Do I even want this? Suddenly we don’t even want it anymore and just get frustrated because it didn’t happen the way we wanted it to”, reflects Mari. A lighter and more loving path can then be to make more vows than promises. “Make a vow, throw it into the wind and whatever comes from that is a planted seed”, she suggests. Maybe now is a good time to start 2022 by sowing words.