The Life-Changing Magic Of Morning Pages For Volunteers

Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote community comes with rewards, but also many challenges. Adjusting to a new culture, language, and way of life far from your support system can take an emotional toll. Finding healthy coping strategies is key. One simple but powerful self-care ritual that has helped many volunteers is keeping “morning pages.” Morning pages are three pages of writing done first thing in the morning to process emotions, spark creativity, and gain clarity. Read on to learn how committing to this daily writing practice can benefit volunteers serving in developing communities.

What are Morning Pages?

Book cover of the book "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron

Morning Pages were popularized by the author Julia Cameron in her 1992 book The Artist’s Way. In the book, she describes morning pages as writing 3 pages of “stream-of-consciousness writing”. It is done first thing in the morning, as a way to unlock creativity and insights.

Cameron brought the specific morning pages technique to prominence. But the concept of journaling and free-form writing has been used by writers, artists and others for centuries. It was a way to organize thoughts, spark creativity, and process emotions. The morning timing and 3-page length is Cameron’s specific framework.

A daily writing ritual for clarity, creativity, and emotional processing

Write 3 pages of stream of consciousness each morning
Don’t edit, censor or read your writing
Helps process emotions, gain insights, and tap into creativity

What is the difference between Morning Pages and journaling?

Feature	Morning Pages	Journaling
Purpose	Processing emotions, stream of consciousness	Documenting events, insights, goals
Length	3 pages	Variable length
Time	First thing in the morning	Anytime
Style	Freeform, stream of consciousness, no editing	Intentional, edited
Review	Not for looking back on	For tracking memories and progress

To sum up, ‘morning pages’ are more about dumping thoughts to begin your day. Journals are to record stuff that happens and how you grow. With ‘morning pages’, you write honestly without judging. You do it for the act of writing, not the final thing.

Dog-eared, well-used journal with pages brimming with handwritten reflections, capturing a journey of thoughts and emotions over time.

Why Morning Pages are Beneficial for PCVs

– Processing the challenging aspects of service

Life as a Peace Corps volunteer in a new culture can be very overwhelming and emotional at times. I remember feeling totally drained after failing to communicate early on at my site. The constant new sights, sounds, and customs left me mentally tired by the end of each day. I am dealing with it by writing all these thoughts and feelings in my morning pages every day. Just getting the jumble of emotions out of my head and onto paper helped. It’s like cleaning out clutter to start fresh.

I set a time to write first thing in the morning, before my mind could spin out of onto other things. Unloading my frustrations, worries, and homesickness made them seem less intimidating. Morning pages gave me a constructive way to handle the tough parts of adjusting to life in my new community.

– Coping with isolation

Many Peace Corps volunteers serve in remote areas far away from other volunteers. I lived in a small village where I was the only volunteer for miles around. In Thailand, the nearest volunteer was 2 hours away. And in Mongolia I was over 3 hours from another volunteer. This isolation was hard for me at times. I missed having people to talk to in my own language.

But writing ‘morning pages’ helped me feel more connected to myself. Pouring my thoughts out on paper allowed me to process my feelings when I didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Morning Pages have given me a sense of calm to start the day. The daily writing ritual reminded me that I’m never alone as long as I have myself.

– Adjusting to a slower pace of life

The pace of life in my village was much slower than I was used to back home. I’ve lived my whole life in cities. My schedule was always busy with activities and a tight schedule. But here, time seemed to drag without my usual routine. I’d find myself restless and bored. Writing morning pages gave my day a small piece structure. Taking time to write out my thoughts each morning provided a sense of accomplishment. Pouring out three pages got my creative juices flowing. I started coming up with ideas to fill my time in meaningful ways. Morning pages can become an anchor giving you direction.

– Ideas and inspiration

As a teacher, I had to get creative with limited resources in my schools. Coming up with new lesson ideas was tough some days. But writing morning pages unclogged my creativity. The daily ritual helped give me a clean slate to start the day. And with a blank canvas, my natural creativity was free to work it’s magic. I continued to come up with good ideas for my teaching. Any volunteer could use morning pages to unclog those creative juices. The insights may surprise you!

Person engaged in morning pages routine, jotting down thoughts and reflections in a notebook to start the day with clarity and creativity

Tips for Making Morning Pages a Habit

1. Pick a regular time and place

I write my pages first thing after waking up. I get out of bed, pick up the notebook, sit at my desk, and start writing. I don’t look at my phone or even turn on the computer. They are terrible distractions, so better to start the day without them for a few minutes. I write until the 3 pages are done. Try not to start other routines before your writing. Doing this at the same time every day helps build a habit. And habits will get you past the tough days when you don’t want to write.

2. Write longhand, not on a device

I love working on the computer. But study after study say that putting pen to paper frees your creative mind. We’re on our devices too much already, I know I am. And we rarely get opportunities to write longhand any more. Not only is this a good mental exercise, but it’s also great for our hands and fingers. I can type faster than I can write. This gives your brain and your hand something else to work with. But this forced reduction in speek helps me slow my mind down a bit. Then I can see the thoughts more clearly as I write them down.

3. Date Entries to Begin, Don’t Reread Later

As I sit down, I write the date and number the 3 pages. It’s kind of liking giving my mind permission to do it’s thing. As you build up this habit, these small rituals kickstart your mind. And writing out the three page numbers make it less daunting. I mean, it’s only 3 pages!

There is no reason to keep these pages. I don’t throw them away as soon as I’m done because I like the sense of satisfaction knowing I did them. But once a notebook is full, there is no reason to keep it. Remember, it’s a mind “dump”. And I emphasis ‘dump’. And time to compost all that material so that it can nourish something else. The act of writing is what matters, not keeping the pages.

4. Let go of judgments

The inner critic has no place in morning pages. Don’t think. Don’t judge. Don’t correct. Don’t erase. Just write, write, write. And when you finish that 3rd page, STOP. Slam the notebook closed and start your amazing day.

It’s amazing even as we let the thoughts flow, another part of our brain wants to ‘fix it’. This might be hard for some, but you have to resist. That’s why you should try this for 30 days, so you can figure out how to stop fixing everything and just let it be. It’s supposed to be messy. It’s not supposed to have perfect grammar or punctuation. It’s a mind dump. And all you are left with is a ‘clean’ mind, ready to start your day.

Open 'Morning Pages' journal resting on a desk, filled with handwritten thoughts and musings, capturing the essence of a reflective morning routine. — **My morning pages!**

5. Use Writing Prompts

They say the first page is easy. But by the middle of the 2nd page, you might be struggling to come up with more. That’s when a writing prompt might help. Here are a few associated with service, but you could really use anything.

Describe a challenge or frustration from yesterday.
What are you most excited about in the coming weeks?
What mistake did you make recently, and how can you learn from it?
What other volunteers or community members inspire you?
What’s something you’re proud of accomplishing or overcoming so far?
If you had a magic wand, what is one thing you would change about your community?
What local food or dish have you come to enjoy since being in your community?
Pick one person in your community you’ve connected with recently.
What is one small way you could improve your language skills today?
If you could travel anywhere in your host country right now, where would you go and why?

The perfect places to put these writing prompts are on either the inside the front/back cover of their morning pages notebook. That way you always have them with you when you need them. You don’t need them all. Just write a few that seem right to you.

My Experience with Morning Pages as a PCV

I started writing my morning pages soon after I arrived at my permanent site. If you remember from PST, that is usually one of the low points during a PCVs service. I was having issues integrating with my new community and my poor language skills didn’t help either. So, when I read an article about ‘morning pages’, I thought it was worth a try.

Graph depicting the evolving journey of Peace Corps volunteers over their two-year service: Beginning with the 'Anticipation Phase', where excitement and uncertainty are high; transitioning into the 'Initial Challenges', marked by adaptation and growth; followed by the 'Integration Period', where cultural immersion and deeper connections occur; reaching the 'Productive Phase', characterized by meaningful contributions; and concluding with the 'Transition and Reflection', as volunteers prepare to depart with newfound experiences and insights

One thing that I did that might not be ‘standard’ is that I used a small notebook, not full-size sheets of paper. I mean the idea is to make this a habit. I just thought it would be easier to fill the smaller pages and give me some confidence in the technique. It takes me about 15 minutes to fill 3 pages. I do my ‘morning pages’ first thing in the morning before I check my phone or turn on my computer. And I decided just to rehash the previous day to see if there was any lingering negativity that still needed to be washed away. Once I wrote down something unpleasant, I try not to dwell on it. I just move on or change the topic. That seems to work for me.

I did notice that it seemed to help me start the day in much better frame of mind. Things were still tough but I felt I could handle it better. I’m still in that low period so not sure of the long term effect of doing ‘morning pages’, but I’ll let you know with an update.

Now it’s your turn

During my service as a volunteer in Armenia, keeping morning pages helped when I was struggling. I am glad I started doing it as part of my daily self-care routine. In the beginning, taking time each morning provided an outlet to process feelings. Later, as things got better, it unlocked creative ideas for projects. And it kept me feeling grounded.

If you’re struggling, I encourage you to give morning pages a try, maybe for 30 days for a start. Keep an open mind, expect nothing, and see what comes. You may be surprised by the insights and comfort this simple ritual provides. Wishing you the best as you embark on your experience as a Peace Corps volunteer.