Where's your focus?

Watch your focus!

When I stood back to look at this page, my eye was drawn to the black lines behind the leaves. Now, you might not have noticed them until I pointed them out, but for me they shouted. I really wish I hadn't put them on there. They are in the layer behind the leaves, but the placing means they show through in a way that makes them stand out.

The rest of the page I love.

So should I dismiss this whole page because of one element that rankles?

No. I need to change my focus. I refuse to allow a couple of lines to take away enjoyment from an entire page.  I choose to focus on the bits that I'm happy with - the wavy lines, the scale pattern, the leaves. Taken together, they are most of the page, so why let a small element spoil it?

And such is life. How often do we focus on one small aspect that is annoying us? Why give it your focus and your energy? Look at the big picture instead.

Maelstrom

When I stood back from this page all I could see was a storm, a tornado, a maelstrom. No need to ask what that was about - this is how I feel inside at the moment. Everything is whirling and feels out of control. It's my age. I'm approaching the dreaded M word - menopause. A time when your body feels like it's not your own and moods swing wildly.

But I'm hanging on in there and journalling it out.

Ups and downs

Without the lows you don't appreciate the highs.

Without the darkness you don't appreciate the light.

Without the fear there would be no courage.

It's not comfortable when you go through it, but it makes you appreciate the moments of beauty in the everyday.

Coping

Trying to cope with all the changes.

Hanging on in there.

Keep going!

 Sometimes you just have to keep going.

This page was one of those times. Below you can see the ugly stage it went through in the middle:

This is just one hot mess! I could have abandoned it at this stage. Instead, I left it until the next day and had another go at it. I was so much more pleased with the result once I pushed on through the mess and just kept going. 

And that's what life is like. When it gets hard and messy, you just have to keep going and push on through. Sometimes that takes a while - you have a small meltdown and pull the covers over your

head for a bit, but eventually you get on with things and something beautiful can be achieved in the end. 

Make your mark

How will you make your mark?

This canvas is full of different marks and it set me thinking about how we make our mark in the world, in the lives of others, and how they make a mark on us.

Some people leave a good mark and others not so good, but all those parts come together to make the unique pattern that is you. There are lots of layers in this canvas, but even those that are covered up have an effect on the ones on top of them. The many layers add texture and interest.

More journalling on canvas

If there are shadows, there must be light.

There is seldom complete darkness. If you look carefully, there are shadows, even if they are very dense. And where there are shadows, there must be light to cause them.

Look to the light.

I'm really enjoying journalling on canvas at the moment in preparation for an exhibition. I haven't set it up yet, but I want to work towards something and push myself out of my comfort zone.

More art on canvas

Sometimes you have to unpick and start again.

And sometimes you have to turn the canvas to find out what it's all about. This canvas was rotated 90 degrees when I popped it back on the easel, and then I saw what it was about. There are lots of marks that look like stitches, and the blue neocolor II was like unravelling thread.

You can't always salvage things. Occasionally you have to unpick and start again. This is not a failure. This is a recognition of needing to go back to the beginning, to start from scratch, to persevere even when there is a lot of work involved. The unpicked work is not in vain - you learned how not to do something.

Hero

Never forget that you are the hero in your own story.

When I stepped back from this page halfway through, I could see a tiara on there. A tiara goes on a head, so it seemed that doing a face was the next step. Once she was on the page, I had to work out what she was doing there.

Princesses wear tiaras, but for most of us, princesses are just in stories. But we all have a story. We might feel that our story is not very exciting, but it is still our story.

And we are the hero in it.

Go out and be heroic today, whether you're working in an office, doing the school run, cleaning, running a company, or taking the day off.

Faithfulness in the small things

When you're just going along, running a household, doing the chores, it is easy to feel that you're not achieving anything. You can look around you and see people doing amazing things, being outstanding in their field, making a difference, and feel small and insignificant next to them.

But that's because you're comparing yourself to someone else.

Faithfulness in the small things is important. The everyday can feel insignificant because it is familiar  and never ending. But it is also necessary. If we don't attend to the necessary and only want to do the big, splashy, 'laudable' things, what does that say about us?