I keep an art journal for doodling in. Whenever I feel inspired, I get out my markers/coloured pencils/pen and ink/crayons/etc., and I draw. The results needn’t be perfect (after all, perfect is boring). The act of drawing and colouring is a release of sorts. You become absorbed in the act of allowing your mind to guide you in creating freestyle images on paper, just as you did when you were a child, living “in the moment.” My art journal is one of the many simple things in life that costs little to nothing, yet provides returns that are priceless.
The beauty of a little yellow finch at my backyard feeder caught my eye and was soon the subject of my art journal. After drawing him, I felt the need to embellish him with a poem I’ve always loved—Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
Thinking one day about how much I love the ocean, I opened my journal and doodled a page of rolling waves and water bubbles… and then I set sail with some of my guiding beliefs.
I started doodling the little house in the country that I’ve always dreamed of, and then it turned into a pattern for a thread-painting sampler (which I still have yet to do).
Another doodle that I’d like to transfer onto fabric and hand-embroider someday.
I drew a tree to contain the marriage poem I wrote. Again, I would love to someday hand-embroider the entire thing onto fabric and turn it into a small wall hanging that wedding guests could leave their signatures on. The finished product that I envision would make a great gift for a bride and groom.
Ahhh… to be shipwrecked on a deserted island. It’s what I dream about.
A drawing to go with my Monkey poem, which I shared in one of my earlier blog posts.
I must have been in a really good mood the day that I doodled this one! 🙂
Whether you choose to express yourself with pictures or words or both, journaling is captivating, restorative and sheer fun.
Try it and see. Get yourself a journal and a pack of coloured markers. Then throw open the windows to your mind and fill the pages with your thoughts, your feelings, pretty shapes and colours, or anything else that inspires you. The more often you do it, the better it gets. Do it!
Create-a-holic Writer 