TSS: May 3, 2015

I can't believe it is the first weekend in May!  Don't get me wrong, I am ready for warmer weather and longer days, but I wish time would slow down just a bit.  

Last week I shared my April writing challenge, mostly stream-of-consciousness stuff and not focused on a particular project.  I maintained my morning pages routine (as recommended by Julia Cameron in her popular book, The Artist's Way), I began a gratitude journal, I hand-wrote my prayers, and I kept an ongoing personal journal.  In the end, I wrote approximately 105,000 words for the month - and decided that was proof enough that I am a writer.

Since I found the challenge personally satisfying, I decided to develop one for May.  This month I will focus on scrapbooking, both as a means to document our family history, values, and beliefs, but also a way to cultivate play and creativity into my life.  

Reading:

In preparation of my May challenge, I checked out several scrapbooking books from the library to jump-start my creative juices.  Most of my reading this week centered on skimming those books.  The ones I found most useful include:

Find Your Groove: A Guide to Discovering Your Scrapbook Style (by Kitty Foster).  While I could easily identify my style before reading the book (Classic, Clean Lines) ... there is an interesting quiz that covers all aspects of style (such as preference for color, number of embellishments, degree of randomness, etc).  I particularly enjoyed how the author created the same page in each of the seven different styles.

I learned that maintaining the same style throughout a scrapbook album does not mean boring or monotonous pages.  I gleaned several new ideas that I am anxious to incorporate in this month's creative moments.

Clean and Simple (volumes 1 and 2) by Cathy Zielske.  THIS is my style, and I poured over every single page!  The author is a graphic designer by trade, and she brings her talent and expertise to the scrapbook arena.  I not only "scraplifted" several page ideas to copy later, but I also learned basic design elements that I can use to develop my own future layouts for years to come.

Using a spare notebook I had lying about the house, I created my own "idea" book using the notes and images from these resources.  On days when I feel less-than-creative, I plan to reference this book for a quick jolt of inspiration.

Aside from scrapbooking, I also managed to finish Dani Shapiro's memoir, Slow Motion.  Last year I read her book, Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  She referenced this memoir several times in that book, which inspired me to want to read it.

Ms Shapiro focuses on a small portion of her life in this riveting tale.  Both her parents were involved in a horrific car accident, which resulted in eighty broken bones for her mother and a severe brain injury for her father.  At that time, the author is a twenty-something struggling actress who is living a life she desperately wants to escape.  Through the tragedy of this accident, she finds the courage to walk-away from the bad influences of her current life and become the person she was meant to be.

I enjoyed the book so much that I immediately put a hold on her next memoir, Devotion.

Writing:
I will not take time and bore you with all the lessons I learned through my April Writing challenge.  I will say, however, that I gained clarity on a number of subjects, and believe I have some direction for future writing endeavors.

While I would be lying if I didn't admit having desires to become a published author, I do know that if I write just for myself, I will be satisfied and fulfilled.

So I am anxious to take the next baby step on this writing journey... which includes maintaining a more consistent blog schedule.  I enjoy this format and writing for an audience.  And I am grateful to those of you who choose to read it.

Blogging:

To that end... I did write one other post this week, Saturday Snapshot.  I hope to incorporate photography more into my daily life, and this post talks about the lesson learned while taking a walk through my neighborhood, camera in hand.  In essence, I learned that we must not only be ready to Seize the Day... but we must also be willing to slow down and Savor the Moment.  In other words, I need to learn to live in the present.

The Week Ahead:
I promised myself that I would return to my morning walk routine once warmer weather arrived.  Well, the time has come.  I was a bit overzealous on Friday and have nursed sore muscles over the weekend.  However starting tomorrow, I hope to get back into the routine of walking 2-3 miles at least five days a week.  I always feel better afterwards... it is just getting over the mental block of putting on those running shoes.

Scrapbooking is of course a priority - culminating with a monthly crop at my house on Friday night.

I am drafting a blog post for Gateway of Hope ministries on the theme of Balancing Life... which will be posted the following week.

I hope to begin a character sketchbook to help me flesh out more well-rounded fictional characters.  I have not given up on NaNoWriMo 2013 middle-grade book, First Impressionism, but I need to hone some basic skills before I am ready to revise.

Our Kansas City Royals continue to do well, and I try to watch them play when televised.  To help pass the time, however, I started knitting.  I am not brave enough to tackle anything complicated, but I do enjoy knitting cotton dishcloths in a variety of color combinations.  If any of you knit and know of equally simple projects... I would love to hear!

And perhaps between rain storms (forecasted for 4 out of the 5 weekdays) I can take myself on a photo safari and work on those camera skills.

It is a full week filled with lots of good fun.  I hope you are equally excited for this first full week of May.