Dreamin' and Scheming Big & Real

Only hours left in 2009 and while it has been an amazing year filled with creative rebirth, self discovery and artful play, I admit I've been looking ahead to 2010. I cannot help but feel I've just shimmied my board onto a great wave that is just starting to carry me off on a wonderful, wild ride. I am excited and ready for the adventures that await me in the new year.

Part of this new found confidence is the result of so much genuine support and inspiration I've found via the amazing women here in blogland. I've had a hard time explaining to people who have not been involved in creative ecourses, blogreading and writing that true communication and connection can occur via the internet. But anyone who knows me can see the tangible changes in my life and my attitude.

One "project" that I am really excited about is my To Do List Book which was inspired by a video by the always inspiring Goddess Leonie.

the cover of my book: i took a composition book, gessoed, painted and stamped the cover and then pasted a favorite picture i had lying around. i've since added more writing in colored marker pens

I loved the idea of putting down on paper my ideas, my dreams and my goals and then breaking things down into bite sized doable chunks of actions to bring my ideas into reality. I have felt overwhelmed by all the variety of projects and activities that have come into my life this past year and a planner is a great way to organize my dreams and my intentions. So the opening page of my book is a list of major goals or projects.

i've pasted pictures and pages printed out from various sources that inspire me. here is the cover to Leonie's planner (read on for details!)

I then made a page for the immediate projects which act a kind of to-do list. Further back in my book, I've started a weekly to do-list that includes my bigger goals along with more practical daily stuff, like getting holiday cards into the mail or laundering clothes to give to a friend's little girl.

I was happy with my book but then Leonie followed up with her amazing Creating My Goddess Year Workbook and Planner. I am so excited by this workbook, I've already printed out the first half and have filled in the pages for reflections upon 2009.

filling in the workbook sheets - the pages are playfully decorated and inspire one to doodling or color in some more. i've highlight words with my new favorite art "toy" - watercolor crayons. and my new favorite tool - a portable watercolor brush/pen - pretty cool!

I will state up front that I am not a workbook kind of gal; I may get started but I lose patience or interest pretty quickly. But I am blown away by how seemingly simple the writing prompts/reflections are and yet skillfully and gently you are led into very deep and insightful consideration of your journey past, present, and future. I have pasted these pages into my List Book. I think the two together will be a potent vehicle for inspired dreaming while acting as a usable road map for the journey of living those dreams.

the back of my planner along with snazzy folder for holding future pages from the planner to fill in and then paste into my book.

And here is the great thing I've discovered in just one week: while pasting pages in, I was reminded of another project coming to an end - 52Q. I have one tag left to make and I love how this project combined journaling with creative play. I've used the tags as mini experiments into various media and techniques and I grew a lot through this exploration.


I was thinking about the year to come and how I might want to house all the individual pieces into one book or journal. I then popped over to see what question 52 was and discovered this project will not commence with a new list of questions for 2010.

Disappointed, but not defeated, I turned to my book and added at the bottom of my major goals page: create my own 52q for my blog. Now, normally I might let this idea bounce around my brain a bit until I left it long enough to come up with reasons why I cannot do it. But somehow by putting the idea on paper and then giving this project its own page for future topics, it magically seems on its own way into becoming a reality.

So I am officially announcing my own Weekly Reflections Project. (Hopefully I can come up with a better name!) My intention is to post a question a week for reflection, journaling, or artistic interpretation along with my piece for the week. I originally envisioned myself using an art journal (I have a spanking new Moleskine art cahier waiting in the wings) with one side of the page for art play and the other side the written answer to the question. Kind of like a larger version of the tags. I loved doing the tags and would invite anyone who hasn't experimented with this format to give it a go. Whether you are interested in prompts for self exploration or topics for artistic play, this project is so open ended, it can be whatever you want or need.

So if you want to join me (and hey, I joined 52Q midyear and caught up months later) here is the first reflection to ponder and work on: What word or affirmation describes what you want to bring into your life in the coming year? (And ever the appropriator, I read about this first on Pen's blog which cites Ali Edwards blog - to give due credit; and then in Leonie's planner a version of a similar question arises which got this whole ball of wax rolling ...)

Think of this as setting an Intention for yourself in the new year. Rather than a goal which is forward looking, an intention keeps us anchored in the present moment.

I'm off to ponder my response and will post later. I would love to have other join me, so feel free to post your response or a link to your blog or flickr account in the comments section. Let's make this a year of Big Dreams and Supportive Connections.




And Happy New Year to you and yours ♥ I hope you will be joining us in the coming year!