Being able to write about it affirmed something I’ve been feeling this spring, that perhaps I am moving out of my mourning period, perhaps I am ready to be centred in my own life once more, not pulled into the wake of hers.
My mom was a formidable combination of fierce and gentle. She offered safe space and non-judgmental listening to many and they loved her for it. She was rebellious and whip-smart. Not a day in her life could she be told what to do. She was a lifelong learner and loved math, music and sacred geometry. She was an unfulfilled musician and she felt that pain right until the end.
She liked to live at the front edge of the future, working with computers when they took up several rooms and required punched paper instruction cards, making sure we had one at home as soon as such a thing was possible.
She loved all of her children completely and unconditionally, even when we would tussle because, well, we’re strong-minded too. What she taught me most of all was to be understanding and kind, to be curious about the world and engaged in it and, unwittingly perhaps, she taught me to be my own woman, gentle and fierce, following my own path every day of my life.
I thought the best way to get a sense of what the Studio Yearbook is like would be to have a sneak peek into one of mine! This is the journal I poured my creative heart into last fall. I hope it inspires you to create one of your own!
Find out more here.
On Tuesday & Friday mornings I invite you Behind the Scenes at my studio.
Today: I’m musing on being an HSP and following my own path. I hope these thoughts will be encouraging to you too, especially if you are a Highly Sensitive Person.
Last week Justin and I had the great opportunity to hear a talk by National Geographic photographer Bertie Gregory who, at the ripe old age of 24, travels the world photographing animals in the wild. He is gifted, articulate and committed to conservation. His stories, photos and video clips were awe-inspiring.
Bertie was considered rather an odd duck as a child. When the other boys were playing sports after school, he would be immersed in a local pond trying to get on level with a swan for a great shot. As a youth, he got a stellar opportunity to be paired with a masterful photographer as a part of a mentorship program. His excitement soon turned to disappointment. Whereas other mentee photographers were traveling to remote regions of the world and filming exotic animals, Bertie was tasked with a comparatively mundane assignment:urban wildlife.
Amazingly, the closer he looked at the familiar landscape, the more wonder he discovered. Peregrine falcons and their chicks nesting in downtown buildings. Deer rutting in a London Park. The underappreciated personality of squirrels.
What unseen adventures lie on your doorstep?
We tend to think we have to travel far or dream big in order to have adventures but for the curious heart, the open mind, the creative spirit, the brave soul, adventure is all around.
Cooking a new and unfamiliar dish is an adventure. Getting ground level with your camera is an adventure. Exploring a new neighbourhood is an adventure. Experimenting with art materials is an adventure. Trying a new fruit is an adventure. Making a new friend is an adventure.
Become an adventurer this week!
Signal your system that you are ready for adventure by choosing a tool or talisman for the journey. Bertie’s camera is his portal to the adventurer’s world. A camera can work for you too – or a sketchbook or journal. A blog is a great gateway to adventure, giving you structure and motivation to embrace an experience and then share it with the world. What about choosing an adventurer’s outfit? Only you have to know that those boots actually mean you’re ready to explore and that this cap says, “Let’s do this!”
A creative life is one that is rich with experiences – but that doesn’t mean you have to travel far and wide to have them (though you might). The richness of life is available wherever we are if we open ourselves to the adventure.
Bertie has a new show called Wildlife with Bertie Gregory. Here is some of the majesty and wonder he’s been able to capture on his adventure (Note: there is also a some brief but difficult viewing for animal lovers in the Sea Wolf episode)
By now you’ve probably heard the story of how inspiration woke me up in the wee hours last January and wouldn’t let me go until I had poured the Studio Yearbook out of my heart. I didn’t know what I was creating. I just wrote and wrote and wrote for hours. After I had messily put every idea onto paper, I thought to myself, “I think maybe this is a thing.” I mean, how could it not be if it woke me up in the wee hours to be created? For the past year, I’ve been following that inspiration to fruition. I’ve followed it all the way here…
photo by Suzie Ridler
Yes, The Studio Yearbook is now officially “a thing”, a magical wonderful thing. This guided journal pulls together practices and principles from Jamie Ridler Studios in one creative place. It is a clean, open and inviting space just waiting for the magic of the creative who steps into it. It is a guide, a companion and a daily reminder of the artist within. It is inspiration come to life.
After a full year of use and testing, by myself and an amazing teams of creatives, it is awesome to not only see the yearbook in print but also to be sending it out into the world. We created 100 print copies that sold out in 36 hours. We also created a PDF so people could get immediate access (and no shipping fees!) and dozens of people printed them on the first day, like Lorraine in London.
photo by Lorraine
Here in the studio, we worked to get the print copies ready to go out into the wide, wonderful world! It took a dedicated week to pack them up with care.
It’s important to me that each step of the way, we infuse studio creations creativity, magic and love. My sisters, Suzie and Shannon, helped me do just that with the Spring Studio Yearbook.
I knew I wanted to tuck a few treasures into the print copies of the Spring Yearbook, which we affectionately call The First 100. Shannon made a collection of beautiful one-of-a-kind envelopes, which we then added some treasures to.
We had an amazing night, listening to music and packing up each envelope with intention. We let our intuition choose a treat selection that felt just right somehow. We trusted absolutely that the right envelopes would find their way to the right creative hearts. (And according to Bryonna, the magic worked: “They might have been random in the envelope, but the Universe directed that envelope to me!”)
The next day we had a packing party! We lit the twinkie lights and played some music. We set up all our supplies with care and one by one we put the packages together with love.
Suzie was in charge of washi tape and she tuned into her intuition for every choice she made. She and I would read the name of the person who was getting the yearbook and then Suzie would reach out for the washi that felt just right. Next I would package the yearbook in an envelope, imagining the beautiful artist that this book would be a companion to this spring. I imagined her receiving it with delight and filling it with her own unique creative spirit.
Then Shannon would finish it off with a commemorative First 100 sticker and it was ready to put in the mail. Even getting these beauties posted had magic! Though it took me three trips with a granny cart and lots of patience from post office patrons, the two clerks were kind, supportive and really helped get these yearbooks out with efficiency and care. I’m so grateful to them both.
photo by Suzie Ridler
Making a project like this come to life is thrilling – and a lot of hard work. I am beyond grateful to everyone who has been a part of bringing it to life – my sisters Suzie and Shannon, my husband Justin, my marketing maven Kim, the alpha team, the beta team and the cheerleaders, plus the whole team at the printers and the staff at the post office.
Every moment of care and kindness, every word of encouragement, every act of support, all of it bolsters the magic of a creation.
The Studio Yearbook is richer, stronger and more vibrant because of everyone who has touched it. Now, it is out in the world, ready to be filled with the magic of the creative heart it will pair with.
If you’re ready, the Studio Yearbook is ready for you.
We had a wonderful breakthrough with Escher this week. Justin and Escher have had a tentative relationship from the beginning (We think it’s because Escher had such a tough experience when he was left with an unpredictable man.) but over the past year it has improved dramatically. In fact, last week Justin was able to get Escher to offer up his belly – a first!!
This week, he was petting Escher gently, remarking that he didn’t think he would get the belly again when suddenly Escher just relaxed and opened up, not only offering up his belly but also “kneading the air”!!
Until that moment I hadn’t realized that we had never actually seen that familiar contented cat move from Escher. Not ever. I’m so thankful that Justin has had the gentleness and patience to build trust with our introverted boy.
This week Shibumi also had a moment when she was over the moon – the temperature got high enough to open the window. She was there in a shot! All outdoor creatures best beware because #shibumiwins!
She sure beat me when it came to making the bed! I was just getting that duvet cover one when – BAM! – she found her comfy spot. And no, I didn’t have the heart to kick her out of the clean and cozy sheets. Yep. On occasion I’m a #softie.
Scout and I have been hanging out together a lot this week. In fact, he even sat on my lap for some of Journal Club! This is me trying to teach him how to take a selfie. Um… I don’t think he quite gets it. We’ll keep working on it though!
On Tuesday & Friday mornings I invite you Behind the Scenes at my studio.
Today: With the recent Full Worm Moon, my thoughts are on dreaming and the ways we can shut down when the longing is painful – plus how we can taste joy now!
