Continuing from Daily Journal, 1…

Okay Okay Okay, what if
I am not dealing with crap?
What about other things to write about?

A calendar of our business dealings.

I had a dated paginated desk calendar my whole life and I hated two things:
1) pages left blank (wasted) because nothing much happened;
2) If I had a lot to say even business-wise there was not enough space.

This year (gads why did it take me so long) I ditched my calendar and picked up a journal, above, and made my own. Date and day at the top, for fun I get to do inky pleasures.
I have a calendar for futuring dates on my computer/phone so no need for that here.

I LOVE IT.

Because our business is OURS I use the same journal to jot down
what I worked on as I do to write my personal issues.
Everything in one place, love life to a stitch pattern or paint formula…

I would not do that if I worked for someone else or had to share with colleagues!

I use it to lift my spirits.
I have had serious depression (past) and fight it sometimes NOW.
Having a place to do gratitude daily and/or write things that
uplift or guide me is a huge part of my journal.
Above, I noticed how our happiest cat attacks the day…
when nobody will play with her she grabs her ball and heads for the hallway!
And a quote from May Sarton, favorite writer, from “Journal of a Solitude.”.

Memories, current and past.
Mitchell and I trying inks in my journal at the Pelikan gathering…
Spilled ink on memories of food shopping at PSU…
Hearing gunshots in Portland reminded me of the day my college boyfriend and I had a bullet come through the window in our Ralphael Soriano apartment…
Andrea sent me a cheery letter…
The wonderful Chester berries, second year we found them.

I never was one to keep a diary and didn’t want to write
about my boyfriend or some such thing in a diary… maybe because, nosy Mom?

I started keeping journal in college when architecture became important to me,
and noting how the creative minds around me worked.
I brought many lovely cheap red and black journals from Chinatown back from trips…
Sadly, I can’t use them today  because they are not fountain pen friendly!

I still keep journals of influences and mentors and ideas.
The bright colored KOLO (blank) journal and sketchbooks are great —
I bought a bunch when a store was going out of sale — and in the last image I photocopied a couple of Pat Southern Pearce’s images with some notes about her and
creative things she said or materials she used to get her effects.
It is nice when you get to MEET these people!

This idea of daily journaling is also applied to other areas, and so I have different places where I write and mess around with ideas.  Once the discipline is learned it is easily moved to all my other pursuits.

My sketchbook is not only a place where I sketch daily, but I also love to put quotes that move me at the edge of one side, or sometimes they become a whole page.  Oddly, I often find a perfect quote after
I’ve created a sketch.  I like that!

Sketching daily — just fifteen minutes, just one sketch — does something good
to my heart and psyche. Playing with lines and color relaxes me and opens my heart.

The same discipline I use for journaling becomes a template
for keeping my hand in the creative game.

I use journalling as a way to go deeper in my spiritual practice.
I was a Zen practitioner (solely) for many years, then met the Tibetans.
One practice that sang to me was the practice of Lojong/Tonglen,
and I added that to my sit practice.
Above, the red journal was my first study journal — it is 25 years old.
When I want to add to it, sometimes I can write on the page,
but sometimes Ii have to resort to a Post-it (second image)…
Then I started slipping whole second torn out pages in, and now it bulges.

In 2014 I also decided to do a year long meditation with sketches
(3d and 4th images above).  I  loved that, combining a favorite Buddhist statue
with a day where whatever came to me was written under the sketch.
It allowed me to see how far I’ve come in my understanding!

In many ways, the attention and gifts
I offer to those I love I also give to myself.
How many of you don’t do that for you?

See Daily Journal, 3, tomorrow!

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