Embracing the Joy of Ephemera

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JRS Fall Ephemera Friday

It’s busy in the studio! We are in production mode for the #first100 print copies of the Studio Yearbook. This is always a lively and chaotic time. The kitchen table is covered with lists and labels and envelopes and ephemera. It’s a collective effort, as my sisters, Shannon and Suzie, help with putting it all together. We have a tradition called “Ephemera Friday” where we fill Shannon’s handmade envelopes with treasures we’ve been collecting for the season, primarily images from books and magazines.

Ephemera is a wonderful addition to any journaling practice. Gluing in an image, a memento, some words or paper scraps can add a moment of visual interest, inspiration to draw on and a connection to the present. It doesn’t have to be precious, fancy or fussy – and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

  • ​Cut out that pretty picture from a real estate flyer.
  • Save a piece of the blue pattern on the inside of an envelope.
  • Give gift wrap a new purpose.
  • Glue in your movie ticket or bus transfer.
  • Keep that golden metallic paper from your chocolate bar.
  • Use that sticker from your piece of fruit!

If you discover you enjoy gathering and using this kind of ephemera in your journal practice (or in your art, for that matter), you can start to invest a little more time and energy:

  • ​Cut out images from magazines.
  • Go treasure-hunting for old books. (Check your library. We have a great used book store at the library in Toronto.)
  • Check out yard sales or vintage shops for all sorts of paper materials – maps, music books, postcards.
  • Look for free printables and collage sheets online.
  • Purchase bundles of ephemera from online sellers.(It is particularly fun to get ephemera from different parts of the world!)

Create a ‘stash’ of interesting materials that you love and that you’ve enjoyed gathering – and then ​use them!​ Don’t let them gather dust as you keep gathering more and more and more. Add one or two or five to your journal every day. Create a card for a friend and send it. Start collaging or art journaling. Experiment with mixed media. Put a favourite in your wallet or daytimer to bring some joy whenever you open it. (I kept a badger in my wallet for years!) 

If your stash starts to get out of control (which can happen easily) have fun putting those papers in a glue book! A glue book (or I sometimes call it a picture book) is simply a book that you glue things into – whatever you like! It’s a fun and relaxing creative activity which leaves you with a visual journal that you can continue to enjoy. You can see one of mine here. With all the ephemera floating around our place, I’m thinking of starting a new one!

Gathering papers and images is something I’ve been doing just about my entire life.  When I was a teenager I kept things like concert tickets, restaurant matchbook covers and newspaper movie ads. For years I kept style inspiration journals, where I pulled together images of the colours, silhouettes and fashions I loved. For over 20 years I’ve created dreamboards full of inspiring images that help guide me on my journey. Now, I put at least one image into my Studio Yearbook every day.

The most important part of each of these processes has been the way that the gathering, curating and creating has helped me know myself and my preferences more and more and more. Whether I was a teenager finding my way, a woman finding my style or an entrepreneur finding my brand, engaging with the visual ephemera of everyday life has been both a delight and a guide.

Amazing what little snippets of paper can do!

Inspiration, Creativity & Insight

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On Tuesday & Friday mornings I invite you Behind the Scenes at my studio.

Today: I’m feeling inspired by the launch of the Studio Yearbook and am thinking about the cycle of inspiration, creativity and insight. Plus, I share a new book I’m listening to (and loving!)

Mentioned in Today’s Show

Taking My Energy Back (aka Don’t Leave Pieces of You Behind!)

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This week I let go of the last of my club-girl clothing, in particular this exquisite floor-length, black fitted dress that I loved beyond measure. I loved my life at the time I was wearing it. I loved who I was at that time too. And I love the feelings that  flood into me as this dress transports me back to my clubbing days, all those years ago.

We often hold onto items like this because they represent a part of ourselves. It’s almost as though we’ve taken a piece of our identity and magically infused it into the object. Perhaps this is why we protect the item so fiercely, why we simply will not let it go. It keeps an important part of us in safekeeping. We feel that if we let it go, we will lose that part of ourselves. So instead we keep that university textbook, that swimming badge, that cookbook, that club-girl dress.

But what if by letting it go of the object, we were able to release the energy and bring it back home?

What if instead of relegating my club-girl attitude to a dress at the back of my closet, I owned it again? I’m not talking about turning back the clock or living in the past. I’m talking about having that energy take shape in my life today, live in my body today, be alive in my psyche now!

Perhaps that dress is in a closet because I don’t believe that there is room for that part of myself in my life anymore and that is painful. In response, I mourn that part of me and build a shrine to it in my closet.

But that part of my identity is always available to me; it must be because it IS me.

It might not look the same now as it did in the past but let’s not get distracted by the details. It’s deeper than that. It’s about embodying the essence of who we are. So, while it’s true that I likely won’t be dancing at a nightclub into the wee hours, sweating, flinging my hair, hands up, hips moving*, I am still a dancer, still fierce, still sensual, still wildly alive.

I am the container for that energy, not the dress.

So the answer isn’t to take the dress out of the closet and start wearing it again. It isn’t about going clubbing or reliving my past. It’s about taking that locked up energy and giving it a home in my life now. It’s about answering the question, “What does that look like for me today?” I know it looked like me dancing in Luminato this year and that’s just the beginning.

No part of yourself needs to be relegated to the basement, the closet or the storage room. You get to be all of you at each stage of your life – wild, strong, fierce, gentle, introspective, curious, adventurous, solitary, playful, sexy, reverential, silly – everything.

This week, as I lovingly folded up that dress and put it in a bag for donation, I felt a deep sense of release but not in the way people talk about in books about decluttering. This release was not about letting go; it was about taking back. I released my club-girl energy from its beautiful black-dress cage so that it could roam through my life freely and with abandon once more.

Take It To Your Journal

Is there a part of you that’s been relegated to the past?
Is there an object that holds its energy?
How might you bring that energy back into your life today?

Let’s choose wholeness.
Bring your energy home.