Pebblepup's Writing Den

In the book Meditations, Marcus Aurelius writes the name of a person. The person is someone he feels has influenced him. Then he lists the things he learned from that person. You could do that. That’s almost like a personal essay. Writing these things down is good exercise. You will also have the added benefit of listing character traits you want to emphasize. Having such a list can also be beneficial when you want to create characters.

I have a wellness diary that I write in every day. I list an inspirational quote, then I write down my impression of what the quote means or what it means to m. Then I write a list of three things I am grateful for. That’s straightforward, but I could, as an exercise in writing, take it further. I could list the three things and expand the list to include why I’m grateful for it.

I also have three questions I answer every day. These questions are who or what inspired you today? Who or what brought you comfort? Who or what brought you joy? The answers to these questions differs from day to day. They make me think. Sometimes I answer with one word, other times I answer with a phrase or a full sentence. How you answer them is up to you.

I have my wellness diary set up with the date and the intention I set for the day. The intention is something I try to achieve. these are things like kindest, being strong, whatever I choose for that particular day.

Then I list the inspirational quote, I mentioned above. I signed up to have one sent to me daily via email. You can do that as well, Google the terms “daily quote”. You could even ask Siri or Alexa to give you one. The one Alexa gave me as I write this blog, was from Mark Twain. He said “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” That’s a good one. Then you write a few sentences along the same lines.

As for the three things I’m grateful for, I chose to list three things. That’s the advice from experts in mental health. You can choose whatever number you want. List one if that’s your preference. There is no right or wrong number of items to list. What’s important is that you become aware of things you are grateful for.

This mental health technique for is good exercising your writing ‘muscles’. It does this by making you write and focusing your attention on positive things. So give this exercise a try. You may find it helps both your writing and your mental health.

This is another benefit of using this type of wellness activity. You will have a written record of how you felt on a particular day. You can use that record to make believable characters.

If you choose to keep a wellness diary, you can do so in a notebook or in the notes app on your phone. I use Microsoft’s OneNote, which means it is accessible to me on my phone, tablet, and laptop. A paper notebook, you can carry with you, if it’s small enough. It’s all your choice. Try it and see if it helps you. You may surprise yourself.