{"id":19356,"date":"2025-09-15T15:03:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?p=19356"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:51:43","slug":"when-blue-ink-is-your-therapist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/blog\/when-blue-ink-is-your-therapist\/","title":{"rendered":"When blue ink is your therapist"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Look, figuring out how to get what you want is the easy part. Figuring out what you want is the hard part.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I thunk up this bit of wisdom for Magdalene<\/em><\/a> (The Great Mormon Novel\u2122) when I was rasslin\u2019 with this concept way back in 2011. A perusal of my hard drive tells me I\u2019ve been cogitating on this since at least 1998.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the backstory:1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

I have a Vomit Book. It\u2019s where I dump my brain. I stand at the threshold of my brain and look at its Neckbeard Nest<\/a>-ness and take a deep breath. Then I start to my right and go around the folds of my gray matter picking up the trash. Then I go back and do a rough sort of like with like. After that I refine.<\/p>\n

\"\"
That is what my brain looks like, not my house. I don\u2019t have that much stuff. I don\u2019t have that much stuff because then I\u2019d have to clean it and I\u2019m lazy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I fill up a TOPS JEN Action Planner<\/a>.2<\/a><\/sup> It takes however long it takes. I\u2019m on Book 14 since 2011. Before that, I used AT-A-GLANCE DayMinder Executive Weekly\/Monthly Planner<\/a> from 1999 through 2008. I scanned those and Vomit Books 1-4, then destroyed them.<\/p>\n

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/div>\n

So, I just write. Dump. Vomit. I tried mind-mapping for a while. That didn\u2019t work. When I\u2019m overwhelmed, I just write words, words that come to mind like the die in a Magic 8 Ball. There is no point. I\u2019m just taking out the trash.<\/p>\n

I use it for everything: narrative, to-do, dun-did, wins, losses, health\/medical, affirmations\/quotes, kids. It\u2019s all color coded,3<\/a><\/sup> I also have a template to copy\/paste typewritten thoughts, then print, cut, and tape it into the book.<\/p>\n

When I get to the end of one Vomit Book, I go back and read what I wrote, and, in the fresh Vomit Book, I recap. I distill sticking points in black, and note my current thoughts in green.<\/p>\n

ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder<\/div>\n

Although a lot happened, Vomit Book 13 took 2-1\/2 years. I filed it away September 1 after I recapped.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tub o\u2019 Vomit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, I\u2019m a creature of habit. I write the same thing year after year, and I have since 1998:<\/p>\n