journal

Reminded of Gratitude

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

It’s still early this morning, and I sit in my favorite journaling spot by the front windows as I always do.

I’m not feeling 100% – just one of those mornings one needs to take a little extra time to breathe, and let the day unfold gently.

The sun is rising slowly, brightly illuminating the left side of the porch posts outside; birds are singing their celebration of a new day, and I am listening to this music, so calming with the water running in the background –

Despite the fact that I am feeling pretty far from where I’d like to be at this precise moment, and am not even sure where exactly that is, I also realize that there are thousands, maybe millions, of people who would give anything to be sitting where I am right now …

… to be able to sit calmly and safely; and have the ability to push the day back just a bit before actually starting it; to sit with a cup of coffee and watch the sun slowly lighten the sky. We can forget how much better off we are in our own little lives than so many people in the world. Especially now.

I humbly and gratefully accept all the good I have right now, and trust that my life is unfolding exactly as it should be, no matter how that may feel at any given moment. Even a gentle morning is a gift, and a reminder of abundance. And so it is.

When Pen and Paper Heal

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Journaling is a highly underrated tool in the toolbox of wellness. Do you write daily?

There is something about putting words to your thoughts and emotions that can not only lift your spirits and lighten your mental load for the day ahead, but also provide insight into so much of your life.

Once written down, the words offer us, now or later, a chance to get to know ourselves better, to find ways to heal and become more of who we’d like to be. Journaling is actually pretty powerful.

I’ve been journaling faithfully every morning for decades. There are days when it feels like a much-needed dump of the clutter in my head, but more often, it’s a way for me to sort things out, see where I am and where I’m going.

All you need is a journal or notebook and a pen. What’s to lose?

Why Journaling Works

/ still a dreamer / 10 Comments

Maybe not so surprisingly, there have been lots of studies done on journaling and why it’s effective. As journaling has been a longtime habit of mine, I can attest to the fact that it is a helpful practice benefiting both mind and spirit, just as these studies have shown.

If you think back to your childhood, you may have kept a diary. It had a lock and a key to keep prying siblings and/or parents out. It was where we recorded our most private thoughts and dreams, and we often addressed it as if it were our most conspiratorial listener, “Dear Diary …”

Journaling is pretty much an extension of that, a repository for all that’s on our minds, and what we can best share with no one else’s input and commentary. Julia Cameron (“The Artist’s Way”) sees it as a “morning dump”, recommending three pages daily, to get all the troublesome thoughts in our head out and onto the paper so we can leave them behind and start a new day. But you can be totally flexible as to the time, amount, and what you write on or with.

Studies have shown that journaling reduces stress, provides a cathartic experience, and literally, boosts the immune system! And without a medication in sight. Your journal is a place to release emotions, whine, complain, rage, melt into tears, and know that it’s all safely there on the pages.

But it’s also something more, depending where you are in your life. It’s also a way to sort things out, resolve questions, plan, dream, and yes, even write down some joy or occasional delirium. Journaling works because we need to express our feelings, feelings that are not always ready to be shared with the “outside world.” Maybe never. But here they are safe. We can look back at them, or just move on. But there … we’ve said it.

Many of the people who follow this blog are writers, and may already journal and understand its value. But for anyone else? Try it. Start a new habit. Become familiar with the rhythm of writing, of putting down feelings just for you. And while you’re thinking about it, I just happen to have a journal you could start with, or perhaps give to someone in your life who’d enjoy putting their heart and mind on paper. Take a look and happy journaling!

My New French Bulldog Journal

/ still a dreamer / 15 Comments

If anything is ever true, it’s that everything always takes longer than you think it will. It’s been beyond a month’s journey just to get my new Frenchie journal ready to greet the world on Etsy and, I hope, to find some appreciative buyers. I created the journal, put together all the artwork, front and back, over 2 months ago, but all that’s entailed in actually getting it printed and ready to market is quite another story. But at last … here it is!

I had a small business with French bulldog notecards and holiday/Christmas cards a number of years ago. For a variety of reasons, it made sense to put it to the side at the time, but the inspiration to start it up again with some new and fresh ideas has been twinkling inside me for a while now. As a result, I am re-launching it with this journal which features my own artwork, front and back. On the back is a pencil sketch of a French Bulldog puppy that I included on Pinterest and which became, much to my surprise, wildly popular between views and saves. I am going to hand sign the drawing on each journal, so anyone inspired to frame it will have a bona-fide signed print of my artwork!

I am so pleased to have my shop on Etsy (where you will also find my Christmas and holiday cards) – it’s a great venue for creative people to sell their art, high quality crafts, and more. There’s also a lot to know, so I am starting with sales to North America first and as I get the hang of how everything works, I will expand to Europe next. (I know there are a lot of Frenchie lovers in Europe, so please be patient – I am a work in progress myself.) If you’d like to check out my new journal and holiday cards, please stop by my shop.

Letting Go and Making Room

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

Journal-BlkLime2More and more lately I’m looking around and wanting to let things go. Personal things. (Well, aren’t they all personal things?) OK, some very personal things. Journals, things related to past loves, books, and of course, clothing. There’s always clothing we could lose. I really am not someone with a lot of clothing, yet I want it gone.

The journals. As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I journal almost daily. I write in the vein recommended by Julia Cameron of An Artist’s Way, and use it as kind of a morning dump. Get all the crap out of my head that’s swimming around unpleasantly so I can move on with my day. I find it quite healing, comforting, and if nothing else, it keeps me writing something. When I’m done one journal, I move on to the next that I have recently purchased. (TJ Maxx, BTW, always has a great selection of journals, if interested.)

The completed journal sits on a shelf with numerous others. But why save them? So today I was in the mood to skim through one of them to see if, indeed, I had left any pearls of wisdom behind before sending it to the great beyond, aka a dump of its own. Skimming reveals certain patterns – things that I have been struggling with over the time period it covers, my search for answers, where I find clues, what I’ve accomplished, what’s made me happy, where I’m going, and what’s keeping me from getting there. It yielded one important piece of information about a medical issue, so I ripped that page out.

And now I can give this journal the old heave-ho. There’s several more that I think will get the boot in the next day or so. It will open up a small bit of physical space, but more importantly, it will open up space in me. Letting go is always helpful. Not to say we shouldn’t preserve some memories, but at a certain point, they’re not even us anymore. Do they matter? Do they all matter? or can we just let some go?

Because when we let go, we make room for what we want to come in. We are always in transition, at some times more intensely than at others. But when we’re looking to grow and change, making room in our hearts, our minds, and even the actual space in our homes can be welcoming. It can be a little scary. It can be very good. We have to be willing to … just … let … go.