My 10-Minute Morning Ritual

I’ve been excited to write this post—but for the past week, I couldn’t get the words on the page.

Relaunching a meaningful blog is a lot of work, much of it unfamiliar (like web coding, which is very much not my forte).

But this morning, I took my first medication, made my coffee, lit a candle, and sat down at my dining room table to journal.

And just like that, I felt grounded again.

It still amazes me that something so simple—ten minutes—can shift the entire tone of my day.

I didn’t start this practice because of my recent layoff. I’ve been journaling my whole life, since the “Dear Diary” era with the little lock on the side (totally dating myself).

Over the years, my practice has shifted, stalled, and evolved. But for the past five years or so, it’s stayed consistent.

And I can tell immediately when I skip it, like last week’s coding incident.

On said morning, I made coffee and went straight to my laptop, determined to teach myself HTML and JavaScript in 30 minutes.

It went exactly how you’d expect.

At some point during the meltdown, I had the presence of mind to walk away (which, honestly, solves more problems than we give it credit for) and I went to my dining room table.

Candle. Journal. Reset.

That’s when I returned to the four simple sections I use every morning—nothing complicated, just consistent. It’s the same structure I included in my free guide.

Scripture or Intention

For me, it starts with a daily scripture. (I receive one each morning from the Bible Inspirations app).
For you, it might be a word, a quote, or a simple intention for the day.

5 Things I’m Grateful For

At least five. I almost always have more.

They don’t have to be deep or poetic. Sometimes it looks like:

1. Sunshine
2. My crazy family
3. Cheese
4. Creativity
5. Safe travels

Yesterday’s Highlight

One sentence about the day before.

Something like: Chatted with my neighbors for an hour outside in the beautiful weather.

One Journal Entry

This is where everything else goes.

Sometimes it’s a full reflection. Sometimes it’s messy. Sometimes I don’t feel like writing at all.

On those days, I keep it loose—what I think of as a mix of junk journaling and memory-keeping.

A receipt, note, or a quick thought about a meal or a conversation. It doesn’t have to be meaningful to anyone else. It’s your journal, there is no wrong way to do it.

Now, I admit my love of stationery knows no limits. Fountain pens, notebooks, stickers… I could spend hours in a stationery store. And in my humble opinion, the best stationery comes from Japan. It was part of what drew me there back in 2024. (Stationery, and the story my father shared of his trip to Japan when he was in the Navy. But more on that another day.)

And yes, I use a Hobonichi Cousin. But you don’t have to use a Hobonichi anything. A Dollar Tree composition book and the pen on your kitchen counter will work just fine.

This doesn’t need to be expensive or elaborate.

It just needs to be yours.

And you just needs ten minutes.

If you want a simple way to get started, I created a free 10-Minute Morning Guide to walk you through it—no overthinking, no pressure.

Download it, try it for a few days, and see what shifts.

And if you do, I’d love to hear how it goes.