I love my bullet journal. It’s pretty and functional and entirely my own. I’ve never done well with conventional planners: they’re all thrilling and helpful for a while, until I find The Thing That Doesn’t Fit – my homeschooling schedule or meal planning, fasting days or whatever.. there is always something missing from the average planner. But my little Bullet Journal is vast. I could spend hours filling it up with the planning parts of my brain.

And sometimes that’s a problem. Planning isn’t doing; and organizing the future, however lovely and fulfilling it feels, isn’t the same as getting up to order the day. Apparently, the latter is a part of “Mindfulness” – the state of being present in and to the actual moment. In this year of intentionalism, I’m working toward that mindfulness of being in the moment – of not only planning my homeschooling week but of engaging in it fully. Of taking the time to really feel the soft, cashmere-y undercoat of my sweet, restless, winter-goats as well as the wind blowing around the herd of us. For this planner-addict, it can be a big challenge.

But if I use my journal right, it can bridge the gap between the planner and the whole person. Spending time with my journal in the early mornings, when only Ilya and I are awake gives me a chance to sort of sketch out my day, reflect on what I want to do and see and feel in it, and welcome the dawn. Watching the sun rise while my little house warms up and my coffee steeps gives me a living doorway to step through into the doing part of the day and out of the planning and dreaming hours.

I love being a part of that transition. Welcoming the new sun and all the possibilities that might step into the day with me. It feels so grounding, so wholesome, and so very intentional.

Arranging the rest of the day to hold onto that mindfulness, that still needs a lot of work in our house, but that morning-time is helping to shape my family’s little Rule of Life into something fuller and richer than it’s ever been.

Do you struggle with the space between planning and doing? How does mindfulness help you bridge that space and move into a more ‘fully alive’ way of life?