Art Journalling/Journaling: Session 14 - Receive a Revelation of Purpose

This week's art journalling exercise is all about receiving a revelation of purpose for your life. As a career counsellor, this is a topic that is quite close to my heart, especially when I am called upon to assist people in doing just that.

You need a nice bright coloured sheet of paper (the hope colours) and add other images you wish to visualise the content. For instance, I've got cyclists there in a race, their purpose is to win; I've got men up in hot air balloons, there purpose was to build a machine of some sort that could fly.

As a believer I have also added in there my notes from what I have learned from other people connected with my faith. You too, can also add proverbs, quotes from books, etc.

The second art journalled page I have done has been chalked with oranges, reds and pinks (colours that are 'happy' and 'hopeful'), I have then made lines and swirls to do more written journalling, where I have briefly explained what I believe my purpose is in life. You can get the idea, but as this is more personal I have made the image small, if anyone is keen on it being enlarged they can email me privately.

Have a great week.

Next week: art journalling exericse is "Come and have a cup of coffee with me"

Art Journalling: Session 11 - Overcoming your resistors

The first page I have used an old NRN Design scrapbook paper and have adhered this to my journal page, then folded it where the wire spiral binding is.

I have then added the new Que Sera Sera (from K&Co) notepads, I've sold out of these but you can get more from www.scrapbookstudio.co.nz. I have headed up the page Desires and on those notepads I am going to write down what my desires are -- I haven't done them yet (for personal reasons I'm keeping those private ....).

On the flipside of the page I have used dark colours with pictures of resistors and have named some of the resistance I come across when trying to complete my goals or just when my desires seem to be up in the sky and unavailable for me to reach them, as the resistance is too strong.

On the opposite page of that, I've identified what my resistors are and how I can best effectively mitigate or eliminate them. Here I'm letting you guys read these (they are still personal), but if they can help anyone in anyway ... then great! Just my random thoughts.

Next to that I have collected some resistors which I ended up obtaining from a retro junk store (Electrical and Surplus Traders, 8 Upper Queen Street, Auckland) and glued them on.

For overcoming much of your resistance you need a good measure of hope.

Next Week: My topic is on hope. Some people make theme journals and will do a whole journal about value words and what they mean to them.

Art Journalling: Session 10 - Put your Determination where your Desire is

This week it's back to paints on our journal pages, cutting and sticking down images, and stamping.


Put your Determination where your Desire is.

My thoughts this week have come from an article I have just read by Jennifer Leclaire.

Basically she is telling us whatever we are wishing for, we should stop our wishing and get determined. The determination is measured by the hope we have. She says “the difference between hoping and wishing is significant. A wish is a desire for something that seems unattainable. Hope, by contrast, is desire with an expectation of attainment.”

She further explains that hope expects with confidence. Hope cherishes a desire with anticipation. Hope breeds faith, and faithful determination generates grace for us to achieve our desire.

Put your determination where your desire is. So I guess that brings me to what my desires are, and I have plenty, I just have to rank them.

What we hope for, we make little steps (or goals) to achieve, hope then connects itself to those things which indicate its accomplishment. So each little goal boosts us to go further on, onto the next goal.

The point of hope is that to which our soul tends to. If held in our spirit, it is hard for circumstances to take away the power of hope.

This journaling exercise will help us to try and do just that.

Preparation of Page
First prepare your page by using primary colours to create a washed layout. Do both pages of your journal, plus one more on the following page (which is for next week) in one of those primary colours.

Then I have used stickers (Daisy Ds) to emphasise the title of the article, plus a stamped image and also printed off a retro image of a target (Batman and Robyn). On the otherside I have made my own personal journalling of what I got out of Jennifer’s article.

I’ve used Brenda Walton’s Mira mini kit collection to highlight certain words, put tabs on the side of the journal, as well as stapling ribbon (also from this same kit).

Next week: Overcoming Resistors.
Once you are determined to reach your dream or your heart’s desire, you will meet resistance; so next week we journal how to overcome the resistance we meet.

Art Journalling: Session 8 - Re-invent Yourself

Feeling stagnant? Depressed? Feel like a failure? Holding back from your aspirations? Or just not going forward, but not going backwards? ... drifting .... if you're happy with that, fine, but if you're not, then why don't you RE-INVENT yourself?

Take a look at Madonna she does it all the time, whenever she releases a new album, she's a new persona. She's dynamic in that she doesn't stay with the status quo. She never gives you more of the same, instead she gives you a new show, a new experience and she gains a new audience.

Re-inventing yourself requires a nod of approval to change. Don't think about it, just do it. If you're reluctant to think about change then don't use that word, substitute it, reframe it in your mind to something that sounds a little more adventurous or less off putting ... so think of re-inventing yourself.

You may like to, however, reflect on what sort of image to re-invent yourself into:

• professional
• stylist
• smart
• sporty
• arty
• classic
• bohemian
• trendy
• casual
• alternative
• Western
• other ..............
  

Sonya Friedman from Smart Cookies Don't Crumble states "How we feel about change, in whatever form, helps to illustrate and define how we see ourselves."

So taking a cue from her, I've developed some simple ideas that you can choose to get the process of re-inventing yourself underway:

• get yourself a new hairstyle (totally different to what you are used to);
• buy yourself a new wardrobe (i.e. clothes and jewellery that you normally would not choose for yourself);
• change your style of clothing (review above list for inspiration);
• change your eating habits e.g. Sushi on Sundays;
• wake up half an hour earlier on work days;
• change your route to work;
• let yourself go gray for that distinguished, mature and cultured look;
• lose some weight.

Some more extravagant ideas:

• buy yourself a new car or even a motorbike (I still fancy riding a Ducati);
• buy yourself a 'designer smile';
• splash out on some new perfume or after shave lotion.

And other ideas not related to your image:

• start voluntary work or supporting financially other people less off than yourself;
• read a new newspaper from the usual one you read;
• check out new food in the supermarket;
• rearrange your house/furniture;
• take up a new hobby or interest (e.g. gardening, archery, whatever takes your fancy).

Okay, so now to your journalling. Fairly easy one for preparation.
You just need a double page spread in your journal. You are going to make a "Re-invention Track" - the metaphor is running a race around a track; and you can take as long as you want to get to your destination or the finish line.

You will need to sketch with pencil your track, making a circular path gradually moving into the centre of your page.

Collect together some photos. One of your present self, and maybe an aspirational picture of someone else you'd like to look like or copy, or leave it blank with a question mark in the middle.


You will notice how this track is not made as a timeline -- that linear approach can be too restrictive with creative people -- whereas the circle allows you the freedom to move onto the next area (your milestones) when you choose.

The milestones you will develop up as a legend and code them into symbols and plot these on your track. Then give them an explanation in your legend what that milestone is. I've just used Tom Bow pens. The arrows on the track are actual acetate photo corners from Prima Marketing.


You can define your own success level. You don't wait for others to define the 'carrot' you will pursue – it's a code for you. So you don't need to have the legend on the page, and you can make it a chart and put it on your fridge. For the purpose of this exercise though, I have included the legend on the page.


Finally, in the words of genius Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe "Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men." So let your own re-invention (your dream) move first your own heart (especially when you start achieving your milestones, that helps build your self-esteem too!) and then it will move the hearts of other people. They will notice the change. You may even become aspirational to them for their own re-invention.