I promised myself I’d polish two chapters yesterday evening, and (yay for me), I came thisclose to meeting that goal. But also? I got waterlogged. Heavy rainstorms moved into SoCal. Our garage flooded, and our backyard turned into a lake that lapped against the French doors and found an entry point into the family room. Can you say "Swab the decks"? I knew that you could.
And then yesterday, I found myself underwater yet again. Metaphorically speaking. And as I flailed and gasped for air, I realized anew that I sometimes pull off my own oxygen mask. Too easily sometimes, I yield my power to external events and outside influences.
Enough of that nonsense! I pulled myself up by my swimflaps and gave myself a serious what-for.
What do I want for myself, and what’s holding me back? As the rainstorms pelted my windows, I poured myself some tea and reflected on those questions. And I wrote out a ton of permission slips, which I then tucked into an envelope. And thus, these creative journal pages were born.
On a related note, Stace wrote two gorgeous entries about our Creative Journaling Workshops for incarcerated teens (here and here). She expressed herself beautifully, in words and images, so I’m thinking I’ll just step aside and allow her to speak for both of us.
ETA: Double rainbows peeked through the palm trees at sunset, overlaying the rainclouds with splashy ribbons of color. I’ll take that as a promise of sunnier skies ahead….
I thought of you when the radio said they were evacuating people in California due to the storms. I’m sorry you’ve been so soggy!!
And I love the idea of permission slips. Should try that myself.
OK, off now to read about your adventures with Stace and the incarcerated teens…
Considering those questions and writing out permission slips…whoooeee, powerful stuff! I sometimes forget that I’m the boss of me. 🙂
I inadvertently linked to the same blog entry twice. Hope you found your way to both of Stace’s posts.
And oh, it’s nice to see you here on LJ again! 🙂
Great page, Melodye! I love how you shaded the writing…it looks like it’s about to wiggle off the page.
Lettering is my nemesis. It’s challenging me to (re)learn confidence and patience.
Wonderful! Fiddles around for own oxygen mask
And the workshops sound wonderful… here’s hoping you get to spend more time with those teens.
Thanks for your kind words. I love LJ for this reason…it’s like having spare oxygen tanks on hand. 🙂
Great post.
We all go under water at times. I’m glad you got cool double rainbows. I like your permission slip idea.
Your journal pages are beautiful.
Thank you, Sarah, for your compassionate words. It’s no fun to go underwater, but it’s comforting to know that I’m not alone. And also? How blessed am I, just knowing that my friends are willing to come to my rescue, if/when I need help climbing back to the surface. xo
Such a beautiful page. And Stace’s journals about the work with teens, wow, so much I can relate to.
I love reading your blog entries about teaching poetry to incarcerated teens. Isn’t it wonderful when teacher and students play interchangeable roles? 🙂
xo
I love reading your blog entries about teaching poetry to incarcerated teens. Isn’t it wonderful when teacher and students play interchangeable roles? 🙂
xo