Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it. Judy Blume
The spring flowers are starting to bloom and the days are warm enough for shorts. We are talking about a trip across Canada. Our son would like to rent a Tesla. We can dream of more places to go than we have time or money to travel. What if life wouldn’t be better if we didn’t have money or time constraints?
In art, we are told to use a limited palette, yet if people are like me they have tubes and tubes of paint colors and sets and sets of gel pens and markers. I bought the gel pen sets for my illustrated journals. I should have one illustrated journal but I go between separating my journals and jumbling everything together in one.
Can’t a journal document my days and live in the same book as the journal exploring art concepts, and exploring personal growth? They could, but I tend to have different journals for different things.
Does it matter how we document our life? I am sure some people have better practices than others, but the best one for us is the one we will do. Using expensive materials makes us think what we put on that canvas or paper has to be worth it. We can buy the materials to create an illustrated journal for a reasonable cost and experiment on the page with doodling, line drawings, pattern making, coloring, painting, and we may find when we put our thoughts on the page we have more understanding about what we think, what we want, and how we would like the rest of our life to unfold.
Drama in our lives can be a form of addiction, we don’t like it, but somehow all of our conversations end up in some form of drama. A journal might be a place to work out some of the angst in our lives. It also might be a place to set goals we aren’t willing to say out loud. We need to be okay with who we are, what we think, and what we want.
We can’t always articulate in words but we can pour our frustrations out on a page. Some people might even find it helpful to pour their frustrations out on a page and then destroy the page as a symbol of removing that angst from their life. Destroying the page is a symbol of forgiving themselves or someone else and going forward without that burden.
Often we imagine that we will work hard… arrive at some distant goal, and then we will be happy. This is a delusion. Happiness is the result of a life lived with purpose. Happiness is not an objective. It is the movement of life itself, a process, an activity. Ethan Hawke
Accepting ourselves how we are is not the same thing as saying we can never be more than we are at this moment. But, what do we think would make us better than we are? If we were richer, more attractive, younger, thinner, or is it if we are kinder, more generous, encouraging others, and finding a purpose greater than ourselves that helps someone?
What if only focusing on ourselves is part of the problem and becoming focused on others is where we grow? It might be why parenting is such a maturing experience. Life becomes all about the family, but families grow up and we need to let them live their own lives and make their own decisions and mistakes. What do we do with all that energy that used to go into our family?
Trying to create a superficially beautiful journal might not be as therapeutic as putting all of the messiness of our lives on a page. Only by trial and error will we find a style of journaling that suits us. We can use a limited palette on some pages and a wild abundance of color on others. No one is going to judge our journal unless we put it out to be judged. What is this excessive need for other people’s approval that seems to be part of our culture these days? If we are going to live our best lives, we can’t always be looking for approval.
Do we worry too much if something will be good enough, and if it isn’t perfect, or what others will think of it? We need to get out of our comfort zone to grow and develop ourselves, and we won’t know what we can do until we do it.
It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any. Hugh Laurie
The important thing is: to be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you could become. Charles Dickens
The thing I really want to emphasize is… when you have a dream, it doesn’t often come at you screaming in your face. Sometimes a dream almost whispers… it never shouts… So you have to, every day of your lives, be ready to hear what whispers in your ear. Steven Spielberg
Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
