Just 71 days left . . .

[I wrote this on December 30, 2008 and posted it in my "Creative Edge Alumni Group." In light of Dale asking me why/how I use an artist's journal, I thought I'd post it here in my blog.]

On the brink of a new year . . .

Our lives are so fast-paced, with events, images, and noise bombarding us constantly. No wonder we feel time is screaming by and continues to pick up speed. Before we know it, a day, a week, a year, and perhaps a life, is gone.

How can we slow it all down? How can we savor the little things? How can we remember the quiet of an early morning, the day it snowed on the coast, the clever phrase we just read, the pithy quote, the price of crab this season, that there were 10 fishing boats on the horizon last night?

How can we freeze-frame all these seemingly insignificant things and "mark" them so they take on more meaning, more importance, and add quality to our life?

We do it with our photography. Why not add words and scribbles to your artistic melange and create a journal of sorts?

Journals aren't just a "chick thing" -- stereotypical crafty moms with glue sticks -- nope. Lewis and Clark were masters of the journal; Benjamin Franklin became a publisher as a result of his; and Leonardo da Vinci? I rest my case.

Your journal may consist solely of your photos -- a photo a day? a week? It may consist of 3x5 cards (actually, this is a cool idea, and I just thought of it). Keep index cards handy when you read, when you eavesdrop in a restaurant, when you watch TV. Write down the date and the absurd statement, the humorous quip, the clever quote. File the card away. Do this daily and, combined with your photos, at the end of a year you've got something interesting with seemingly no effort.

What's my point? Life is zooming by way too fast. Let's slow it down and savor it by paying more attention and by recording -- in pictures and words and scribbles -- the little things that are too easily forgotten.

By elevating the smaller stuff and giving it more importance and by snagging it in some form that we can go back to, the current moment becomes that much more enhanced. Our life becomes richer and more meaningful as a result.

A new year begins tomorrow night. Slow it down. Savor it. Make it important.

Carol Leigh
[Written 12/30/08]

Things that scare us . . .

In the previous post, someone commented about "melting down" while trying to learn a new skill, and the horrible feeling that comes from thinking everybody knows something but you, and you're a complete idiot. I think we all feel that way from time to time. And the key is to not let it get to us, to do the best we can, muddle through, and not worry about what others are thinking of us.

In light of that, let me share with you a page from one of my art journals. These are books (always the same, just with different covers and different colored paper) that I scribble in, usually on a daily basis. The cover says "artist's journal," but what I create inside isn't really art. Well, it's art, but it's not "good" art! And you can look at it and think, "What a talentless dummy!" And that's okay. (Note: Talk about being scared! This is something new for me to do in this blog. But here goes . . .)

My point is that on January 31st of this year, I'd run out of space in the previous book and was beginning page 1 of a brand-new book. This is scary! What if I muck things up on the first page? Does that set the tone for the rest of the book? Oh, the pressure! Oh, the tension!

So here's a picture of my first page. I purposely spilled coffee on it (or, rather, painted some coffee-colored smudges on it) so that the pressure was alleviated. Easy.

It might be difficult for you to read my writing. The top part of the page says, "This is the first entry in a new journal and it's always so daunting, so scary. Will it set the tone for the rest of the book? Will it be good enough? Maybe I should spill coffee (insert stain here) on it, just to break it in?"

We all have self-doubt. We all often think we're not good enough (especially in photography and Photoshop). It's how we handle those feelings that counts. And as I get older, I realize how easy it is to now say, "I don't understand what you mean. Would you mind going over it again?" I used to just nod my head and try to look intelligent. Ha! Doesn't work any more!

It's a new day. Ask questions. Live with ambiguity. And know that everyone, no matter how strongly they express themselves, is worried about appearing stupid. ©Carol Leigh

Journal

I'd forgotten how inconvenient this "photo of the day" thing can be, and how it can slip your mind, so in desperation I simply present what's currently on my coffee table. Naturally I did NOT include the enormous stack of old magazines that's lurking over on the right-hand side. ©Carol Leigh