It’s been a while since I captured some of my more personal thoughts on life and creativity, so today’s the day. I’ve both missed writing more regularly and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the medium of video. Here’s everything that’s on my mind:
1. Quiet – Today our members kicked off a week-long “media deprivation” experiment. This is the brainchild of Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, and is designed to help you slow down and stop drowning out your thoughts in noise. The idea it to replace consumption with production, input with output. It’s 4pm and I’ve already done more today, a Monday of all days, than I did all of last week. I’m keeping a vlog this week and will share it next Tuesday.
2. Lightness – I have loved every iteration of Stash Bash, but I think The Great Stash Bash format might be my favorite. It was a fun challenge to come up with 12 different video ideas and so amazing to witness your progress over the month. (Check out the entire playlist of scrapbook organization videos.) I’m continuing the process in my own space on a slow-but-steady pace, but am very proud of finally letting go of some clutter that had been taking up space for far too long.
3. Retreat – April is a month-long exploration of retreat for me, it seems. This media deprivation week is undoubtedly a much-needed retreat from online noise. Then, on April 12 our next session of Refresh begins. This is our seasonal, members-only online event that features curated activities and discussions to jumpstart your scrapbooking hobby. And then finally, I’m headed to an out-of-town conference with my husband at the end of the month.
4. Nature – We had four inches of snow yesterday and it was 16 degrees this morning! I am itching to get outside, to feel the grass between my toes and the sun on my face. This has been the longest winter ever and nature is calling my name. We’re dreaming of new landscaping in the side yard, strawberry plants on the front steps, and adventures to our favorite parks near and far. Spring has got to be just around the corner. Please, let it be so!
5. Play – A horrific tragedy in our local community kept me up at night a lot recently, but even moreso reminded me of the need to be truly present with my family. Work still needs to get done, but greater focus is in order to ensure there is enough time for tea parties and fairy gardens. With this kind of clarity, at least for me, always comes a renewed desire to take pictures. The more we do and play as a family, the more I want to record these once-in-a-lifetime moments.
6. Ease – This year my personal scrapbooking process has continued to focus on smaller and more simple projects. I’m creating a lot in 6×8 and even did a few Project Life app pages that size recently. I’m loving the Day One app for recording more of the details than I have in the past. I seem to be more focused on tying up loose ends than starting new things, which is probably not a bad thing at all.
7. Details – Maybe it’s the age I am at or maybe it’s just my personality, but I keep finding myself in search of things that work better, taste better, look better etc. I’m no longer willing to compromise. Right now I’m loving my classic black Vans, the Everyone Hand Soap in Apricot & Vanilla, Green Dragon Hot Sauce from Trader Joe’s, Aquage Uplifting Foam, and the L’Oreal Infallible Pro Glow foundation.
What’s on your mind this month? Share in the comments below!
Photo Credit: Lisa Hausmann
Great post, Jennifer! I’ll have the check out the One Day App!
Thank you! That’s an app I had been thinking about for years, but never really took the time to see how awesome it is.
Sounds like your media deprivation has certainly turned your thought inward. I play a lot of video games and so I have made them my media deprivation this week. I got more done yesterday than I have in a while. I also got to bed earlier than usual. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the week brings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Have a good week.
Congrats on recognizing your biggest media input and taking this time to observe your life without it.
I just recently discovered the Aquage Uplifting Foam and I love it!
Yay, it’s just so awesome compared to similar products.
Lots going on! Your blog was great
The media deprivation and Artist Way in general kicked started a huge burst of creativity for me, too.
Looking forward to Refresh and the 100 day challenge, too. Hope you find grass soon!
So thrilled for your burst. I think April is going to be pretty sweet!
Hi, Jennifer. First, thanks for everything I’m learning following you. The stashbash got me purging and cleaning and organizing into my new scraprack. It’s coming along nicely. The prize of 1 month subscription and a spot for refresh is the best thing ever. So looking forward to continuing to be kind to myself and enjoy what I love even more. A snap of my scraprack.
Ooh, that ScrapRack is such a fun invention. Awesome that it is working for you. We will endeavor to support you in being kind to yourself. It’s hard, but super necessary and worth the intentional effort. <3
Lora – so glad you found stash bash motivating! Looking forward to having you join us this month! Refresh is my favorite!
Oh my goodness…Jennifer, I know exactly what you mean about an ever-lasting winter! I am craving evening walks with my ‘not so little anymore’ girl and pup. Scrapping has taken a back seat as I am finishing up my degree this semester. But I am missing and considering how I can dive back in on a smaller scale, maybe 6×8 too. I am hoping between Refresh and The Scrap Gals Retreat in Dallas I’m lucky enough to attend next week will get my creative juices flowing again. Happy Spring-ish!
PS. Slip-on Vans are on my spring shopping list ????
I must get some slip-ons for spring! I kind of want the checkered ones. 😉
I will consider it my mission to help you find your smaller scale focus during Refresh.
On my mind this month:
1. Clarity (hopefully): going to Finland and meeting my cousins, and getting a chance to explain the sorrow and grief of having to face not being a part of the family summer place like I want to be. Hopefully getting some possible misunderstandings out of the way, and moving on to a new reality, while still being able to enjoy the place.
2. Continue mourning: giving up on the part-ownership is giving up on aspects I thought were a given in my life. Also, this means there likely will be more things of this nature, because my mental health is not going to suddenly magically get cured.
3. Play: it has been astonishing to see how positively I’m reacting to being allowed to play with Lego again. How it makes me happy, and then be able to do more tedious things much easier.
4. Explore: continue exploring a specific aspect of my identity and life with a guidebook I found recently. Exciting, scary, and so, so good to finally be able to be more knowledgeable and relaxed about myself.
5. Restraint: this is a tough one. Telling myself to not do things I want to do now I finally seem to be getting some energy back. Instead, holding back and trying to make my foundations even stronger before getting back to making youtube videos, picking up various languages, doing all sorts of craft stuff, and following up on all my ideas and plans.
6. Dehoard – or perhaps I should say – Curate: as learned from the recent Focus circle, curate is a positive word rather than cull, purge, dehoard. Anyway, continue reducing the amount of stuff I have been/am still holding on to in an attempt to have some control over my life. It doesn’t work. Actually holding on to less gives me more control in the long run, but it is a hard process. Slow and steady is the way forward for me.
7. Self-care – aka Do Nothing: this whole month is going to be full of things, many which will tax my mental strength. I am getting better at putting in Nothing days, but I really need to work on this. Without the Nothing days, I run out of oomph to tackle the Lots going on days.
I’m not sure if this is the sort of comment you were looking for, but I seem to have needed this exercise in what to focus on this month, so thank you. Hopefully I’ll still be standing when May comes around.
Thank you for sharing with us. Are you doing Morning Pages or other journaling regularly? I find it so helpful to ‘curate’ all the thoughts and concerns and stresses into something that makes a tiny bit more sense. As you have done with your share here, it can be helpful to leave some of that anxiety in words so you are not carrying it around. I’m so glad we can be part of your journey. <3
9. Carmelle Landreville on April 4, 2018 at 21 :27 p.m.
On my mind this month:
1. I wrote a few morning pages but not a really morning girl. I write all the time for all kind of stuff like my memories and stories for my scrapbook albums… I have about 50 note books for gardening, ladies association, for the descriptions of my photos, learning Photoshop and Lightroom…
2. For my craft activities,
I’m doing some decoration for the 80th of my association,,, it will be decorated on a big Coroplast board full of photos, infos, flowers…
3. Self-Care : I’m doing line dance and I like it very much… my health is getting better… and I relax a lot…. I finally seem to get some energy back…
4. Snow, snow, snow :I know exactly what you mean about an ever-lasting winter! Last week, and this week, we hadlots of snow with wind (Sunday and Tuesday). But the next day we had a good sunny day…
5. Anyway, continue reducing the amount of stuff and give some to my neighbor, she work in a school…
6. Dehoard – or perhaps I should say – Curate: as learned from the recent Focus circle; I read all the videos and took the good ideas that can help me focussing..
7. I like all the activities in the Stash Bash, I check out the entire playlist of scrapbook organization videos. Very interesting and very useful. I took some ideas and change some of my craft stuff containers…
Comment
Carmelle, I am glad you enjoyed the Focus Circle – sometimes it just takes a different way of looking at things!