Fresh Start Monday #72: Finding specks of gold

James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, on January 24th, 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush.

Early on, forty-niners used techniques such as panning to separate gold from loose silt, sand, or gravel. Panning is a simple process but tedious.

You scoop up the gravel with a pan. Then, you soak and shake the pan. The gold is heavy and will sink toward the bottom of your pan. You sweep away the other materials.

You have to sift through the muck to find the speck of gold. Over and over again.

Since the new year, I've been doing Morning Pages. It's a tool Julia Cameron introduced in her book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.

Again, it's simple. First thing in the morning, write three pages with pen and paper of whatever comes to mind. It's a stream of consciousness type of journaling.

The idea is that once you get all your stress, anxiety, self-doubt, etc., onto the page, you clear your mind. Only then can you do your creative work, whether it's music, art, pottery, etc.

To expand this idea, it's why we write first drafts, brainstorm ideas, and go on many first dates. There's a lot of crap to sort through.

We fantasize about gold but dread this muck. Today, technology tricks us into thinking that we can research, observe, and learn from afar. Yet, the only way out is through.

Here's a recent example from my own life:

I've been searching for an event space in Boulder to host my new monthly workshop: Pages to Progress. I spent hours researching, mostly to procrastinate on actually visiting places.

I decided to visit five places. Here's how they went:

  1. The owner stood me up

  2. The place was cluttered, messy, and unprofessional.

  3. Too corporate.

  4. Nowhere to sit.

  5. A gem.

I chuckle because the first place was my first choice. Set the expectation that it will always be a process.

Morning Pages reminded me that you need a daily practice. You won't enjoy it every day, but there's no other way.

Sometimes, it won't even look like the gold you expected.

I've been suddenly captivated by reading and writing poetry. I have no idea why. I'm just going with it. Here's an accompanying poem I wrote for this newsletter:

Finding specks of gold is
tedious
occasionally tortuous
always time-consuming
yet simple
those who strike it rich
master simple.

I'd love to know what specks of gold you are finding in the new year. How are you finding the good stuff?

Local to Boulder, CO?

New monthly event!

On January 25th, I’ll be hosting Pages to Progress, a monthly workshop held on the last Thursday of every month that delivers key insights from bestselling non-fiction books and helps you apply them to your life.

For January, the book is Atomic Habits by James Clear.

You can register through Meetup. January 25th at 6:30 pm MT at NowHaus. $25

Join us Tuesday (1/16) on Meetup for a biweekly journaling group! This week will be at Tonic Alchemy Lounge. It's a cozy, intimate space with a wide variety of tea, kava, tonics, desserts, and cocktails available.

Thoughtful Tuesdays - Journaling Group

Tuesday, January 2nd at 6pm MT at Tonic Alchemy Lounge!

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