When I’m getting ‘stuff’ out of my head I often use this Dina Wakley journal – it has 4 different types of media in it and I really like it. The writing on this is about my weight loss, the ongoing struggle to be in the right head space, and the reasons I eat as an addict.
As I do every week I’ve done a page in my Dylusions Dyary – but actully I did two because I was away last weekend on an art trip so yesterday was catch-up time. This journal has pre-printed backgrounds so I add to it to make it mine, then photos and writing. I love this format for keeping a basic record of our very ordinary lives.
Most weeks I do a page or two in a small Dylusions diary; it’s about 8×5.5″ and lovely thick paper so there’s no need to gesso, the colours don’t bleed through and the pages don’t curl. I usually do a combination of collage and text; some of the tme I’m recording the lyrics of the music that colour my life, less often it’s inner thoughts (I tend to use other jounals for my inner world).
I was talking with someone on a FB group page and they commented that you can’t journal the hard stuff because others might read it. It means you can’t share the page, so others don’t get to be inspired by your art.
I disagree; I’ve always journaled the good, bad and ugly in my scrapbooks and art journals. As an ex scrapbooking teacher, I’ve always shared my art in person and online.
Sometimes I write it all out so it’s legible and figure, if I share the hard or ugly stuff, I might help others get through and be able to tell their stories. We can all help create safe places for others to share their experiences, especially around addiction, mental health and abuse / domestic violence. I’ve never felt my life has to look perfect in order to share online.
But, even for me, there are things I don’t want the world reading about. Sometimes it is just too raw, other times it’s because it would compromise another person in some way. Often it’s about my food addiction, addictive personality, Tony’s health or my relationship with others who support me (or have similar issues) that I’m wanting to talk about.
When I want to record things but don’t want it to be legible, I use “scribble writing” so I get it all out of my head, but no one can read it. I usually start in the middle of the pages then work up and down, so the lines aren’t consecutive, and make sure the writing is loopy and overlaps. If’ you’re a scrapbooker or art journaler I’d encouarge you to record it all, it’s very healing.
For the record, this page is about some of the head struggles I’ve had this week, more than 2 years post weight loss surgery, what I’m doing about it, and the support I get from people.
Every year I join #olw – One Little Word with Ali Edwards. This year my word was ENOUGH. You can read about it here. As always happens, the word turned out to have more connections and meanings for me than I could have imagined. I ended up in counselling, getting to the heart of some issues, working towards a point where my heart – not just my head – knows I am enough. I’m a work in progress.
I’ve put quite a lot of time into choosing my One Little Word for 2019 and tested four out by writing down what they would mean to me. Aware and connection were pretty good but, in the end, DEEP was a clear winner. As we get into 2019 I know, from previous years, more connections will become clear, but for now DEEP resonates for me because:
Normally I make an index card piece of art and put it in my office at work This year I’ve gone for a square format and made two, one for at work, and one for my home office, to keep me even more focussed on my word and what it means to me.
Cath Sheard Art 