my very own Wish Book

When I was a kid, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the new Sears catalog every year. It was called The Wish Book (or maybe that was the JC Penney catalog.) Anyway, between the two of them, I thought I had access to everything in the entire universe that was for sale.

I would spend hours turning page after page in awe. I didn't necessarily WANT all those things -- I was just fascinated to know that so much variety and so many possibilities existed.

Today I got the idea to create my own Wish Book. A few years ago I made a vision board, which is basically a collage of images that trigger feelings of joy and abundance in me, and I still enjoy looking at it every day. Given my Big New Revelation about the magical power of writing for me (how it moves the lofty ideas generated by my right hemispshere into the concrete reality of my left), I thought maybe it would be cool to write myself some stories.

Recently I used up all the pages of my journal, so I bought a new one on clearance at Office Max. It has Happy Bunny on the cover, saying "It's All About Me!" I've decided to fill its colorful pages only with possibilities. I'll probably still need to gripe occasionally, so I'll get another notebook for that. (It will be plain and boring-looking.)

Here's my plan: When I need to release some emotions by expressing them, I'll do that in the plain notebook for only exactly as long as it takes to reach a feeling of relief. Then I will pick up my Happy Bunny journal and my purple gel pen, and write about what I'd rather experience instead. Here's an example:

Releasing Journal: Dang, I hate that this place doesn't get morning sun.

Happy Bunny Journal: I love morning sun! It will be so lovely to live in a place where I can feel the warmth of the sun on my face before I even open my eyes. I love waking up early; feeling warm and cozy under the covers while I watch the light change in the eastern sky long before the sun peeks above the horizon. You know what else would be cool? A skylight, so I can see the stars, too.

Oooh, I can already see where this is heading! I can probably make that releasing notebook a pretty small one. I bet it won't be long before I just skip that one altogether, and go right to the fun of telling myself a story about what I want instead.

I'll let you know how it goes!