Morning Story / March 19-April 1, 2023

Compilation of morning stories, originally posted on Instagram

I’ve talked a bit about a habit stack I’ve been cultivating this calendar year. Part of it relates to morning writing (in advance of reading Write for Life, but ostensibly the morning pages concept). There are several steps to the habit stack. I won’t detail it here, but it has about a dozen elements, all of which have blended to make a really effective, repeatable routine. The final step in this habit stack relates to posting a “story” at Instagram.

I’m not sure why I took that step initially, but it quickly became a subtle accountability step that I enjoyed. I’m using the same notebook every day, so the photo doesn’t vary much. I even use the same coffee cup most days (because simplification of this sort is really important to me). But I snap the photo (early in the stack), and then I post to my stories.

I’m 50+ days in now, and the bit of delay this habit stack gives me in the morning has become important. Before this, I would get up, turn my computer on while my coffee brewed, and immediately log into work. This entire habit stack has added a delightful bit of pause in the morning, one I am relishing. I am deliberately leaning into a work-life boundary that has been missing for a long time.

When I post my story each morning, I write something. What I write has nothing to do with what I wrote in my freewriting or journaling session. Instead, I look out the window. I listen. And I write…. within the small space of the Instagram story screen…. and it feels different. Writing the story has become an important few minutes of writing all to itself.

Instagram stories only hang around for 24 hours (although I’ve set up a highlight to preserve these). I know a lot of people never view stories. (I didn’t for a long time.) So, I thought I might experiment with posting the weekly batch here. You might enjoy the moment of pause, too.

There are two weeks of daily photos below, just to start this process of sharing them at the end of the week in this space. Because I start my Illustrate Your Week on Sunday, I am considering these weekly groups Sunday-Saturday, too. (My goal is to share single weekly batches moving forward.)

Thank you for reading.

If we are not already connected at Instagram, I hope you’ll consider following @oamyoamy there.