Finding Creative Outlets and other Ramblings

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been almost nine months since my last post. I have been on the rollercoaster of life and I am totally ready to get off.

When I took a break, I took it because I was “living” my illness, instead of just trying to “live” with it. I was just so absorbed in everything that was wrong, that I wasn’t even noticing the things that were right. I mean seriously, folding a load of laundry, in the eyes of a healthy person isn’t a big deal, but in the life of the chronically ill, it’s akin to headline news!

It’s taken me a while, a long while (I’m going on 6 years of being ill) and I still find that I continue to work on discovering my “new normal.” I still have bad days, but I try to focus more on the good days. Sometimes it works, sometimes…not so much.

I’m also now dealing with Big Handsome having a Chronic Illness as well. I guess he didn’t get the memo about the whole “One Chronic Illness per Household,” but that is for a totally separate post.

Over the last nine months (aside from taking care of BH), I’ve tried several hobbies to get my mind off my illness and onto my creativity. Instead of searching the internet and/or FB for illness related sites and groups, I began to search for creative outlets. I discovered and joined many groups to try to tap into my creative juices.

I discovered:

·        Art Journaling

·        Painting

·        Watercolor

·        ICADs (Index Card a Day)

·        Junk Journals

·        Book Binding

·        Altered Books

·        List Journaling

·        Collage

·        Fauxbonichi (Fake-Hobonichi)

·        Traveler’s Notebooks

 

…as well as many more. I found that I enjoy lots of the above, but as of late, I’ve really been enjoying the Fauxbonichi.

 

A Fauxbonichi is a “fake” Hobonichi. A Hobonichi is a Japanese style planner that is used to document your life with pictures and words. Through YouTube, I found a group on FB and jumped right in. I really enjoy doing this type of journaling. I refer to it as an Illustrated Diary.

 

I found through much trial and error over the last nine months what I like and what I don’t like concerning art, more specifically journaling and my art. I found that I really like to journal, but I don’t like the whole “Dear Diary” thing. I found that while I don’t enjoy drawing, I enjoy cutting and pasting pictures from magazines. I found that I can use my creativity in a fun, different way. Everyone has their own special way to “Fauxbonichi,” but that’s what’s so great about it, there are no rules; I just do what feels right, creatively, for me. It’s a way to document my life in a more colorful way. I rarely write about my illness, although sometimes it slips in anyway, whether I like it or not. Mostly, I write, draw, paste, and color my days; what I did, where I went, who did what, what was for dinner, and the like. Sometimes I put in quotes, or Scripture, or original poetry. The group I belong to is a super group filled with all sorts of people from all over the world, from all walks of life, with all levels of talent. They are such a supportive and encouraging group, and I’m so glad I found them.

 

Through my “art journey”, I found that I am most consistent in being inconsistent, but with the illustrated journaling, I feel that I can just be myself, create for myself, and document my memories. It has been such a refreshing change.

Here are some examples:

 

I sincerely hope to be blogging on a regular basis soon. A lot has been going on around here, some good, some bad, but I always try to remember that although I might feel helpless at times, I shall never be hopeless!



Top Ten Tuesdays

As most of you know, I homeschool my two teenagers. I’ve always homeschooled them, thus they’ve never been to school a day in their lives. To counteract others’ thoughts on the whole “socialization issue”, my children have always been involved in myriad activities outside the four walls of our home. To name a few: gymnastics, guitar and piano lessons, homeschool park days, field trips galore, playdates, oh I could go on and on. Now that they are older, they are involved in Enrichment classes. They’ve taken classes (that are taught by the parents) in Art, Government/Economics, Writing, SAT Prep, Math Olympiads, Model UN, Renaissance, Drama, Latin, and so many more that I am forgetting at this moment. Suffice it to say, my children are well socialized and I feel they have received more than a well rounded education.

What does all of this have anything to do with my Top Ten list for this Tuesday you ask? Well, it just so happens that I also teach at my children’s Enrichment Program and have for the past 5 years. This spring I will be teaching an Art Appreciation class to the highschoolers.

Still you might be asking…and this has what to do with Top Ten Tuesdays?

I’ve been inundating myself with all things art. I love art and all things connected with art. I’ve even recently found my own artistic side through all of this (although I've always considered myself quite crafty).

I wanted to share with you my Top Ten Artists I've Been Studying (mostly Modern Art). So here goes in no particular order:

1. Georgia O’keefe

Rams Head, White Hollyhock and Little Hills, 1935

 

2. Henri Matisse

The Open Window, Collioure, 1905

3. Vincent Van Gogh

Starry Night, 1889

4. Jackson Pollock

Blue Poles #11, 1952

5. Georges Seurat

A Sunday Afternoon on the Île de la Grande Jatte,
1884

6. Claude Monet

Waterlilies and Japanese Bridge, 1899

7. Piet Mondrian

Tableau I, 1921 

8. Edgar Degas

Four Dancers, 1899

9. Pierre Renoir

A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876

 

10. Jasper Johns

 Numbers in Color, 1958-59

 

P.S. I've been so engrossed in planning the Art Appreciation class for my Homeschool Enrichment Program, I nearly forgot to post my Top Ten!!

 

Top Ten Tuesdays (Yes, I Realize It's Wednesday)



Well, I’m off the ball yet again, surprise, surprise. I wasn’t able to post my Top Ten Tuesdays yesterday, so I’m doing it today and there aren’t even 10. I thought about calling it Wop Wen Wednesdays, but decided against it. Maybe I should call it Top Eight Somethingorother, but that just sounds corny.

So much has been going on around here including, but not limited to, health issues all around, crashed computer, new computer won’t fit old digital camera card, having a time of figuring out new system on said computer, blah, blah, blah.

I wanted to share with you my newest hobby. Sharpie pens are my new best friend. I don’t consider myself all that creative, but have found that I love to draw whimsical trees…go figure. I also place biblical verses that have spoken to me over the years of my illness within the branches. It is quite relaxing for me and I can take my book and pens with me everywhere, like to the hospital while I wait anxiously for Beauty Queen to get her cardiac MRI/MRA, or with Big Handsome while I wait for him to get his noggin scanned, and even if I'm just sittin' around the house contemplating just how much more screwed up the universe can make my life.

When I’m feeling especially anxious, and providing my brain is cooperating with my eyes and hands at that particular moment, I have found that drawing really helps me to relax. I love that I can go back to these special verses that have helped me in the past to quell my spaziness.

So here’s my Top Ten Tuesdays being posted on Wednesday and don’t even consist of 10 items. UGH, I think I need a nap for about the next 10 years; someone please wake me when Big Handsome is back to normal, Beauty Queen is feeling better and a cure for POTS has been found.

Hope you enjoy. Let me know in the comments what types of things you do to relax while dealing with chronic illness.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photography skill...

“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” ~Psalm 31:24

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” ~Romans 12:12

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” ~2 Thessalonians 3:16

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him…” ~Lamentations 3:25

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” ~Proverbs 18:10

 

“I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” ~Psalm 16:8

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” ~Matthew 11:28-29

 

Still in the works…



Gettin' Your Craft On

So, I’ve been reading a bunch on the forums and one of the threads was about creative outlets and coping. There were so many good ideas on there. Much of the time, many of us are housebound or mostly housebound and sometimes even bed bound, so it’s really helpful to find new and interesting ideas for things to do instead of the same ol’ same ol’, like surfing the web, researching our weird symptoms, and social networking.

Some people enjoy crocheting and knitting, something I’ve always wanted to learn. Some enjoy reading which I do a lot of. Some enjoy painting, art journaling and getting their craft on.

I like to scrapbook when I’m up to it and have the time. Sometimes my scrapbooks don’t even have any pictures. The following scrapbook is one I started on a while ago (haven’t finished yet) and is an inspirational scrapbook. I found all sorts of inspirational sayings and Bible verses that speak to me on the net. I placed them decoratively into a spiral book that I am going to fix up so that it can stand on a shelf and I can flip the pages daily. Here is a sample of what I’ve been working on:

(Cover)

 

 

 

Enjoy!!

Hope each and every one of us can find our creative sides and get our own craft on!!
We might seem helpless at times, but we are never hopeless!!