I’ve always been drawn to the idea of journaling. I love the idea of catching some of the elusive thoughts that run through my mind. But part of the beauty of these ideas and thoughts are that they are impermanent. We get flashes of them dancing past, but often when we try to express them, they don’t sound quite right.
Plus, let’s face it. Who really has time to journal? I’ve become strict about carving out time for meditation every day, but with motherhood, work and exercise all calling for attention, journaling seems to slip further and further down my list of priorities.
So I decided to try something new. I created an impermanent Instagram account @one.post.only and I laid down some rules:
1) Every day after meditation I will post a thought, observation or idea in a line or two.
2) I acknowledge that these posts will range in quality and grace - we all have good days, bad days and neutral days.
3) Whenever I post something new, I will delete my previous post.
In this way my Instagram will only ever have one post. The past is deleted. There is no way I can go back and compare my posts or look for a theme. Every day is a fresh start.
I’m really enjoying this way of journaling in a short form, easy-to-do format. And this daily practice is a wonderful reminder not to get too attached to any ideas, thoughts or opinions that I have. As my mother always says, “If it’s that important, you’ll remember it.”