But still, so much joy
Spilling out the ugly and reconnecting to the beauty. I need that these days. Don't you?
Has our first year in Spain been much harder than we thought it would be? Why yes, yes it has.
Has there also been amazing experiences, great discoveries, and so much joy? Yes, yes, also true.
One joy? The way I’ve continued and even expanded my work with creative journaling.
As many of you may know, before we moved to Spain I was teaching creative journaling as part of my coursework at the university level. Nearly all my students were not art majors-in fact precious few of them were even humanities majors! My classes were filled with nursing students and business majors and scientists. They, as you can imagine, started off hesitant about this journaling thing, but I am so proud of them: it didn’t last. So many of them ended up really quite good at it, for one thing. And so many of them, whether “good at it” or not (what is that, even, anyway?), found a practice that they intended to continue. I like to think I taught some students that, like me, will someday be talking about filling their 100th journal.
It’s been so rewarding to explore journaling in Spain again, as well as continuing to expand how I share the practice with others. Along with completing my 100th creative journal, this year has been full:
I filled four journals in one year, leading up to that 100th journal.
I studied for and became certified as a journaling coach, adding more studies and experiences to what I can then pass on to students and workshop attendees.
I reopened the creative notebook, a project I had started with my friend Elizabeth a dozen years ago. Life got busy for us back then and the creative notebook got put on the back burner. I’m grateful that Elizabeth is graciously allowing me to carry on that work from here in Spain.
I taught creative journaling in a spring retreat held at l’Artesania, which included leading the dream-come-true journaling workshop in a field at sunset. And I’m preparing to do it all again for fall Rest | Restore | Explore retreat attendees!
I built and shared a three night creative journaling retreat offering, and already have some folks discussing coming out to L’Albi to experience it.
And most importantly, those journals have helped me stay focused on the beauty all around me. To stop, to pause, to get all my worries out and then recenter around the good.
Oh and! I started sharing here in these letters weekly prompts and inspiration for all of you! Until now, my substack letters have been open to everyone. I will keep these five weeks of instruction, explanation, and inspiration up for all to access for free. But to help me with supporting my work here (and, you know, the cost of plumbing), I’ve decided future creative notebook letters will be for paid subscribers- at the great big price of less than a single coffeeshop treat a month. I’d love your support. It would mean the world…and a shower that no longer leaks.
So now, without further ado, on to our prompts and visual play ideas for the week:
This week’s prompt:
Join me in recentering towards the beauty and the good.
Give yourself 5 minutes to throw down all the awful-in your life, around you, out in the world. Five minutes to spill it all out on the paper, get it out of your head and your body, released onto the empty page.
But then. When the five minute timer goes off, stop.
Set another timer, this one for ten minutes.
And this time, spill out all the beauty, all the good things, the tiny flavors and sights that delight you, the relationships that feed you, the good in your life, in your surroundings, out in nature, out in the world. Literally refocus yourself onto beauty. This can be a list or full sentences, I don’t care how you chart the beauty-just spill it out. Small, large, all beauty is significant.
We can call this our “the horrors persist, but so do I” practice.
Visual play:
Go out on a walk around the block. Look for the beauty, and take pictures with your phone’s camera. Try to make it the slowest walk you’ve ever taken. Find the architectural details in the neighbors’ houses, the little weeds in the cracks, the summer sun hitting the trees when you look up… Slow down. Look around your block. Capture everything beautiful you see. Then when home, sit down and send a bunch of those photos to a one hour photo service where you live. Bonus points if they let you put several images on one 4x6 photo paper sheet- tiny bits of beauty for the win! Over the next week, include those photos in with your journal entries. Write about those images, those moments seeking beauty. Focus on them.
Want to continue receiving these prompts and visual play ideas? Subscribe for as little as €5/month. That’s less than a coffee for my American friends!
You could also:
Consider joining the fall retreat for Rest | Restore |Explore- you have until Sept 3 to make your decision!
Connect with me to plan your own Creative Journaling Retreat-whether it’s the three night plan laid out here, or your own personalized version.
And also:
Catch up on Instagram: l’Artesania retreat center, the creative notebook, and me.
Plan a visit to L’Albi
Schedule a creative journaling workshop or plein air session