Separation

This page took a lot of working on. Sometimes everything you put down is unsatisfactory. You end up covering most of it and starting over. But if you push on through you might end up with something you're vaguely happy with.

A lot of the news I've heard just lately is sad - lots of loss and bad diagnoses. The circles seemed to represent that separation. Sometimes a page is just that simple.

You are strong

Bear up under that burden - you are stronger than you think.

Life can throw up tremendous burdens. There are days where we wonder how we can ever get through it without being crushed completely. That is when we can take courage from those who have been through similar situations. When we look at others who have been through something - a bereavement, an illness, a financial disaster - and see that they have survived, we can have hope that we, too, will make it through to the other side.

Growth takes time

Growth takes time.

When you land in a new place, you plant new seeds. Waiting for them to germinate can seem to take an interminable amount of time. When that little shoot finally pops up it needs to be provided with the best conditions.

And once growth is achieved, it needs to be pruned.

It seems strange to cut back some of the growth you've so eagerly waited for. However, if you let all the growth go off in its own direction, the vitality will be so spread out that there will be little energy left for fruit.

It can be easy to fill our calendars and put our energies into a hundred different things. They might all be good things, but we can't do everything.

Growth takes time.

Pruning is necessary.

Filters

What are your filters?

I can see a bead curtain on the right of this page, and a mesh screen on the left. Both of these things are used as filters of a sort, to keep out the flies and bugs when we want to have our windows and doors open to let in some air.

What filters do you use to keep out the annoying things that try to invade your life when you open yourself up? Are you good at letting harsh words slide off? Can you keep a distance between your self and criticism you might receive about something you have done?

Knowing your self-worth is a great filter for those annoying little 'bugs' in our lives.

Journal flip-through

Get ready for a photo-heavy post! Here are the 50 pages from the art journal I've just finished. This one runs from May to Sept of this year and the pages are shown in order. (For a video flip-through, see my Instagram post @sojournertracy)

Interior weather

Don't let your interior weather affect how you interact with others.

This page made me think of sunshine, rain, and rainbows. The weather around us can affect how we react - cold grey days can make us feel like hunkering down and avoiding anyone else; sunny days see us eating outside and inviting friends along.

We also have interior weather - our mood. We might be feeling sad or angry or smug, and that can affect how we interact with others. It's hard to be kind when we're feeling put-upon, but we must work at it. If we let our mood dictate our interactions, we will damage a lot of relationships.

We can cope with any sort of weather if we are properly dressed for it. The same can be said of our interior weather. With training and care, we can make our interactions generous and edifying, no matter what is going on inside.

(I'm not talking about wearing masks all the time because that isn't healthy. However, we can work on not taking out our bad mood on those around us.)

Noisy!

I'd forgotten how noisy large groups of small children are!

I recently stepped out of my comfort zone and volunteered to help out in the kitchen at the church toddler group, making tea for the carers and snacks for the children. Being in the kitchen is totally my comfort zone, but small children definitely aren't. The sheer noise was enough to wear out an introvert like me! By the end of the morning I was worn out.

I wanted this page to reflect the noise and vibrancy of the experience, which for me it does.