Nudge Challenge Week 95 = Coffee & Journaling

NUDGED: "Take journal to coffee shop for 1 hour"

BACKSTORY: This was a newer nudge I added at the beginning of the year to help me do more fun things that I enjoy...but then COVID happened. I kept pulling this nudge during several weeks, only to throw it back because coffee shops were closed. Boo! 

While many coffee shops are still closed, the drive thrus are open and many still need business. It's time for me to figure out my new normal, so I accepted the nudge this week with the extra challenge of completing it during a pandemic. 

I don't see myself actually sitting in a coffee shop and journaling, but I will find another nice, safe spot to enjoy writing with coffee. I want to make it work this week! 

QUOTE: "Reading is my inhale and writing is my exhale." - Glennon Doyle in "Carry On, Warrior" (This quote deeply resonates with me!)

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: I'm surprised at how difficult it was to complete this nudge, considering in the availability of coffee and paper. 

Try #1: I situated myself in my backyard with coffee (Starbucks drive-thru) and notebooks. I felt peaceful and encouraged by my surroundings and had many thoughts to record (as always). I was interrupted after 20 minutes and had to stop to go to lunch. Fail. My nudge was for one hour of journaling.

So peaceful!

Try #2: I tried again during a weekday evening. I situated myself inside the house at my desk, armed with decaf this time and many notebooks. I found myself easily distracted with other things that I "had" to do at that moment (ha!). I couldn't focus. Writing felt like a struggle. I gave up after 10 minutes and started reading a book - what my heart really wanted at that time. 

Try #3: Third time was the charm! On a beautiful Saturday morning, I got coffee at Dunn Brothers drive thru, then sat on the deck in our backyard and wrote. It didn't feel like a struggle this time. I gave myself plenty of time until lunch and had no distractions....besides my dog killing a bird and burying it several times around the backyard.* It was a great time of journaling and was so good for my soul!

Coco works to bury a dead bird. This is the first of three places.

*In case you are curious...the final resting place of the bird is now on the deck, one step outside the sliding glass door. That's what feels right for the dog! 

LESSONS LEARNED: For me, journaling requires the right physical space and mind space. I need to feel peaceful and not rushed as I write, with no distractions. Coffee helps but it is not essential to the writing process.

Also, I need to continue to adapt during these changing and uncertain times, and find my new normal. It means I skip sitting in coffee shops but write outside with coffee instead. It means I don't go to book sales, but learn to be content with reading books that I have. It means we enjoy meals at home or sometimes take-out, instead of dining at a restaurant. My life is just as good as before, it just looks a little different.

NEXT UP: The next nudge is somewhat related to this week of writing, which is good because I am on a roll! It is to "write in a new way". My original intent for this nudge was to learn to write in Shorthand like my Grandma did, but it has always been too difficult for me to pick up. I may re-visit that this week, and plan to try writing more in cursive too - the other lost writing art!