Expect your Censor to comment on your goings-on. Remember that your Censor is a cartoon character, not the voice of reason. When your Censor weighs in with a negative remark, thank it for sharing and keep right on with what you were writing. It helps to know that your Censor’s most vicious remarks accompany your most original thoughts.

“But, Julia, my pages are so negative. I’m afraid I’m encouraging negativity.” Stop worrying. As we ventilate the negative, we make room for the positive.

dawdle. The success of Morning Pages hinges on our doing them as close to awakening as we can.

Write three pages of absolutely anything. If you can’t think of what to write, write “I can’t think of what to write.” Keep writing until you have filled three pages. Three pages full of anything, anything at all.

One of the first fruits of our newfound security is an ability to take risks. We dare to broach a delicate subject with our partner. We dare to go back to college. We dare to submit an entry to a juried show. We dare, period, and as we do, our self-image shifts. Instead of procrastinating and beating ourselves up for our lack of courage, we risk an

Oftentimes, the Censor is a recognizable person—a parent, for example. An unflattering picture helps to downsize the Censor’s power. The point is to stop buying what the Censor is selling. Learn to hear it not as truth, but as a blocking device. Morning Pages teach you to do this.

Meditation gives us knowledge of our Higher Power’s will for us and the power to carry it out. We meditate to discover our rightful place in the scheme of things. This inner power has the ability to transform our outer world.

Take good care of yourself. Remember that “treating yourself like a precious object will make you strong.”

“Julia, I think I must be doing the pages wrong. Mine are dull, petty, and repetitive—hardly inspirational.” There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages. Remember, they are not intended to be art. They might be what is called “brain drain”—the siphoning off of negativity is one of their main functions. “I forgot to call my sister back.” “The car has