Today: Gobo’s progress, a new cat in the hood & sharing some truths from behind the scenes.
I often share #catsinthehood photos like this one of Beau in my backyard on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Come join me there and meet the cats in my hood!
Find More Creative Living TV at the Studio
Today: I feel so blessed with gifts and conversations. And after sharing the success of my journal workshop, I thought I should share with you the other side of the equation: nerves! Plus poor Gobo, Shannon’s cat, isn’t well. Please send lots of love.
Find More Creative Living TV at the Studio
Today: G-Day and sharing journals with the girls was amazing!! I have a feeling it is the start of something magical! I’m getting lots of signals it’s time to pay attention to messages from the Universe – and I’m listening!
Find More Creative Living TV at the Studio
Today I am stepping into the great adventure of introducing 200 ten- to twelve-year-old girls to the fine art of journaling. Over the past week I’ve asked people to share with me what they wish someone had told them about the practice when they were that age. As the heartfelt stories poured in, certain themes emerged that are great for us grown-ups too.
The number one message that came in loud and clear was the importance of keeping your journal safe, secure and private! Strategies included marking it with a clear privacy statement, hiding the journal, writing in code, covering up what you’ve written with paint or collage or destroying anything that you’re worried someone might read.
Having a space that you feel confident is just for you, where no one is looking, reading, watching, judging, is one of the core gifts of keeping a journal, a space where you can pour your heart out, the best of you, the worst of you, your joys, your worries, your angers, your triumphs, your history, your dreams, your imaginings and meanderings – everything in full raw honesty. For me, this is my morning pages. I stream out three pages of free-writing and in those words I encounter myself. I hear my own voice and see my own heart. It’s the encounter that matters. I toss the pages away.
Do you feel free in your journal? Do you self-censor? What about when you art journal? Does the world of shared art journal pages impact your process? Do you create with an eye to sharing on your blog or maybe one day being featured in a mag?
What role does privacy play in your journaling?
Many people shared that they got stopped along the way by some idea of how journaling “should” be done. It should be written. It should be daily. It should capture what you’ve done each day. It should be positive. It should be meaningful. It should reflect the “true you.”
What if you tossed away all the shoulds and just created a space for your heart, your mind, your life – a space where anything goes – a space for you!
What if you could glue or write or paint or sew or gather or remember or list or imagine?
What if you wrote poetry, copied out song lyrics, pressed flowers and drew your cat?
What if you started on the last page and worked your way forward?
What if you coloured or washi-taped or hole-punched?
What if you made it a comic?
What if you wrote on Mondays or on your birthday or rainy days or whenever the heck you felt like it?
What if you wrote every day for 10 minutes?
What if you wrote one sentence or twenty or a hundred pages in one sitting?
What if you did it your way?
What if you did it to discover what your way is?
What if you were just you on the page, the you that you are today?
Our journals are as individual as we are. Give yourself the gift of loosening your expectations and experimenting. As you discover more and more about your style, your preferences and what works for you, you will come to a very personal way of journaling and it will feel like home, a home of your own, a journal just for you.
The winter was long and I have been impatiently waiting for the garden to show signs of life. It’s only been about two weeks since there was ice back there! Now every day I’m taking a little tour and yelling out to Justin and Shannon, “Hey, you’ve got to see this. Look! Look!”
One of the very first things to show up in the garden this year was Sedum Sr. Last year I went on a rescue mission to get this guy. He’d ended up in the neighbour’s yard after we had our fence replaced. Last summer I snuck my fingers through the fence and gently, gently pulled him back home. He looked a little depleted when I replanted him but clearly he’s come to like his new spot!
I’m delighted and perplexed by this crocus bud. Delighted because it’s white, which I love, and it’s the first thing to flower! Perplexed because I didn’t plant any crocuses. Not one. And yet there seem to be quite a few sprouting. Interestingly, I planted quite a few white daffodils… and not one has shown up. I’m beginning to wonder about bulb packaging!
One of the very first things I planted in the garden was this tree peony. She’s quite a sensitive soul and spectacular too. The first year she unfurled one lone bloom with a single layer of petals. The next year there were three and they were more robust. I am always curious to see what she’s going to do next.
The phlox is coming up too. The only way that I remember what or where most of these plants are is to not clear away all the debris in the fall. Otherwise, I’d forever be digging up old plants as I make way for new ones. (I still manage to do that more often than I’d like, ack!)
Every year these are my absolute favourite sprouts. This white bleeding heart always looks like alien beings stretching out of the soil towards the sun as they come to life.
It took a keen eye to notice this tender purple under all that old growth. If I remember correctly, this plant will have a beautiful white and green leaf and tender little purple flowers. I’m going to get out there today and clear the old away.
I am so excited to see these tulips coming up. In the fall I planted bulbs for several varieties of white tulips and then covered them with chicken wire held down by rocks, hoping to outwit the squirrels. I know they got few within days of planting and now they are definitely nibbling on the tender shoots but hopefully I’ll get at least a few beautiful flowers.
I love this time of year. Spring is Christmas for gardeners!
No doubt I will soon be starting my #goodmorninggarden series on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Join me and see the garden grow!
Today: As I prepare for the journal workshop this weekend, I notice gifts for us grownups in our advice to the girls! Plus, as I consider a new idea for the studio, I get a major sign from the Universe.
Find More Creative Living TV at the Studio
Today: As I prepare for the journal workshop this weekend, I notice gifts for us grownups in our advice to the girls! Plus, as I consider a new idea for the studio, I get a major sign from the Universe.
Find More Creative Living TV at the Studio
