I love journalling, but my journalling over the last few months has become very dissatisfying, scattered, random and not very cohesive. There is one place I am doodling, another I am processing ideas and reporting on what I am writing, another where I am sketching, and yet another where I write about my journey with Tom. Not good to be so scattered but it’s probably a reflection of the chaos that is uppermost in my brain at the moment but I don’t feel that is a good excuse. So as I thought about this yesterday I realized that there is a lot I can do to create order and to make it easier for the transitions that lie ahead to happen.
There are many forms of journalling apart from straight written journals and I have dabbled in quite a few of these over the years - collage journalling; nature journalling; doodle journalling; sketch journalling and photo journalling to name but a few. I don’t think I will ever give up the written journals that help me document life’s ups and downs but I am itching to be creative again wanting a more imaginative and lighthearted way to both process and to create.
I was chatting to a friend this morning about my potential writing projects and he reminded me that it is always the creatives - the artists, the musicians, the poets and I would add, the out of the box imaginers, who lead the way. This, on top of my new resolve to express my creativity and be playful again strengthened my resolve to use my imagination to put together a new journal.
I was reminded of a couple of posts on creative journalling I wrote several years ago that I revisited and have adapted for the rest of this post.
Keep it simple, make it meaningful, stick to it, the mantra that has seen me through many transitions is once more guiding my creativity. Here are the steps I used to help me focus. Let me know if you find them helpful in shaping your own practices for the season.
I started last week by setting aside time to reflect, imagine and create what I thought would be most helpful for me during the upcoming season.
It is hard for me to imagine what the next few months will look like but that does not stop me dreaming new possibilities. What would I like to accomplish? Where would I like to be? Who do I want to be with? All these questions help to shape my journalling journey ahead. It helps me prioritize my desires and put my faith back at the centre of my journey.
Out of my times of prayer and reflection I wrote down the thoughts that came to mind. I chatted to friends and advisors about the upcoming season and wrote down the new thoughts that emerged. I sat with them for a while and allowed those that spoke to my heart to emerge. I chose themes for the upcoming weeks – Seek God; Breathe deeply; Rest Quietly; Share joy; Love others; Let God find you; Create a sacred path for others to follow.
Then I went on line to find artistic fonts to print out my themes. I chose a different font for each theme. This in itself was a fun exercise.How would I use them? Did I just want fonts that looked interesting? Did I want to be able to colour them? Did I want to be able to craft them myself? This process too helped shaped what I planned to do over the upcoming months and enabled me to develop more structure for the time ahead.
When I got all my bits and pieces together I was so excited that I wanted to start immediately. I sat down to start but my mind went blank. I got distracted by a work project I had left on my desk and soon realized I needed a well thought out process to focus my practice and discipline my actions. I am still working on the details but thought you would like to know what I have come up with so far.
Sit quietly in my chosen space taking deep breaths in and out for a couple of minutes.
Recite one of my centering or breathing prayers.
Add some colour to the words of my chosen theme and allow their meaning to seep into my soul. As I worked on this a couple of days ago I smudged my colouring. My immediate response was to start over, then I realized that the smudge too was part of the pattern God wanted me to learn from. I smudged it because I tried to colour too much too quickly, obviously getting ahead of what God wanted to do that day. As I thought about this I was reminded of the Japanese art of kintsugi in which the artist takes a broken piece of pottery and mends it with gold lacquer. The repair is highlighted and adds to the beauty, just as God is able to use the mistakes and broken places in our lives to increase the beauty of who we become.
Read through the prayer/poem that anchors me in my theme and go over it every morning, not just reading it but tracing out the letters with a different coloured pen each day.
Reflect on words, scripture or images that come to mind. There are several ways to do this depending on what I sense God is saying. I love variety and so having these options allows me to flow wherever the Spirit wants to take me.
I left plenty of space to write down the thoughts that come to me and write these in colour, highlighting special words, open to what God is saying. It has already revealed much to me as I begin this journey. It is making me more attentive to listen to what is happening within me, around me and in my relationship to God.
I printed out a couple of scriptures on my theme Seek God – Acts 17:26-30 and Luke 12:28-34 from The Voice. These too can provide a focus for my reflections.
I experimented with some artistic designs and doodles. This is a little scary for me. It makes me feel very vulnerable for some reason, more vulnerable than when I paint on rocks and add them to my meditation gardens, but I realize that God has called me to both step outside the boxes of the traditional and also be willing to be vulnerable.
It is good to have structure for the months ahead but I suspect that this could still all go up in a puff of smoke and I will eventually be led down an entirely different path. However it has been very therapeutic to write down these thoughts.
What do you plan to use as spiritual practices for the upcoming months? My plan of action is not shared for you to follow. It is shared to stir your creativity to imagine the unique and special pathway God wants you to follow through the upcoming season.
God has gifted all of us with creativity and imagination that needs to be stirred and developed so that our practices strengthen rather than weaken our faith. We are all formed from God’s creative act to be co-creators in this God infused world we live in. Take some time, take back your life and make Christ the focus of all you do over the coming months.
Below in more detail is the process I developed out of these guidelines above
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