Class 6 ~ Summer of Self-Discovery ~ What I Am ...

So, you know how I'm always talking in class about my art retreats? This week's class exercise is inspired by something I spontaneously created at a retreat way back in 2010. I woke in the morning with some *very* affirmative "I am" statements in my head. I wrote them out in my journal, and then headed to our retreat's creative zone (we call it the "sharing table" ~ where we all bring materials from home to share with each other). I always feel it hasn't been a "proper" retreat if I haven't made a book and I very much wanted to put my minty-fresh poetic statements into a new book form.

I used recycled press clean-up sheets (the same thing I make your journal covers out of) as well as black gesso (on a rubber stamp), ivory notepaper and found ribbon ... when I was done, it looked this:

Although my project was *very* poetic, the important thing for me is that it was AFFIRMATIVE. All the statements I wrote were about the beautiful things I love about my life and how I experience the world. Some of us can be a bit squeamish about writing positive, affirmative stuff. I mentioned before that what can be drop-dead inspiring to one person can come off as cheesy or trite to someone else, so personal taste definitely comes into play here. As much as I love this book/poem I made, even I'm a bit tentative about showing it around to people. It's very *personal*.

And so should yours be, but be gentle with yourself when you do this exercise. Ease into the "life can be beautiful" zone by getting some of the basic stuff out of the way ~ write about the mundane things you are till you find your groove ~ I am a mother, for example, or I am a reader. The thing is ... just keep writing out the statements on your notepaper. You get to edit, eliminate and rearrange everything *before* you glue it in your book, so let the words flow as they come to you, and edit later.

There are complete instructions on the handout below, and I have a few pre-made books I made for the class that I would be happy to mail out to people (until they're all gone!). Just email me and send me your mailing address. These mini-books are designed to either be glued in your journal or hang on the wall (if you really love it). Here you go ...

I have some free pre-made books available ~ contact me if you want one.

Next post ~ more creativity to tide you over the summer!