My Word for 2023: Place

For the past few months the word "place" kept popping up. I would jot down whatever thought it was connected to and move on. It didn't seem like a good word for the year, and I couldn't connect it to anything in a significant way. But it kept popping up, so over the week between the holidays I spent some time looking at it, and, honestly, trying to find a different word. I just didn't see how "place" fit.

Until I came across a different definition; one from a different language.

I came across this Spanish word, querencia. It's definition is: A place where one draws inspiration or strength, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self. A safe haven or sanctuary.

That sealed it for me. I have many places where I draw inspiration from. Some are physical places, like my home or a local Metropark, and others are less tangible and are more of an emotional place, such as the places in a good book or movie. I like feeling secure in the places I function in; in my marriage, my church and job, with close friends. I have places that are a place of sanctuary, places of renewal and restoration - places I need to re-connect with this year. I also need to reconnect with a place of rhythm that has been disrupted over the past few years. That's just a start on my intentions for my word this year.

In my last post I wrote that I am art journaling in one journal this year - a visual commonplace book. So, my word of the year/One Little Word art is located in the same book. I decided to participate in Ali Edwards One Little Word class and group this year to try and stay focused on my word throughout the year. Below are my pages exploring my word.

Do you pick a word for the year? Share your word in the comments belows or in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group.

 Sacred Margin And A Commonplace Life

Author Shelly Miller called the time between Christmas and New Year's Day a sacred margin- 

"A sacred stretch of time between what was and what is yet to be."

Sacred margin is the in-between time. The current year is closing and the new year stretches out before us.

For quite a few years our office has closed for the week between these holidays as a way to recharge. Working in a church means the time through Advent leading up to Christmas can be pretty hectic. Add into that equation the fact that our church has adopted two public schools as our community partners, and the busyness level is increased. I always appreciate this slow week between the holidays and I use it to reflect on the past year and make plans for the year ahead. 

This year my sacred margin week has had ups and downs, but overall it has been a good time of resting, getting creative, looking back on the past year, and making plans for my creative life in the year ahead. Last year was not a year of consistent creativity and art making due to so many events that drained my emotional energy. It was a year that held a lot of transitions. As a result of these events and transitions I got off-track with the rhythms that keep me balanced: time in God's Word, reading, writing in my journal, and making art. I intend to reconnect with all of them in 2023 intentionally.

I spent some of my reflection time looking at past art journals and found that the years where I kept an art journal or commonplace book where I kept records of my daily life, were the journals I enjoyed the most. So, I intend to return to the habit of commonplacing in the new year.

I first heard about commonplacing and commonplace books back in 2013. A commonplace book is where one writes down book quotes, musings, ideas, experiences, observations, etc. Many famous people in the past have kept commonplace books, such as Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, C.S. Lewis, John Hancock, Virginia Wolfe, Emerson and Thoureau, and Ronald Reagan.  One article I read even called it "a record of a curious person's readings, obervations, etc". Being a curious person, I was drawn in!

I have always written in journals since I was a teenager and I have always quotes from books and obervations in them. So, when I came across a term that described a habit I already had, it was exciting. When I then combined this habit with art journaling I found a practice that appealed to my soul - filling a journal with art, images, and words from everyday life. A visual commonplace book filled with the marginalia of life. A commonplace life. And that is my intention for the year ahead.

A few year's back I used a Moleskine journal for my visual commonplace book. I loved the Moleskine and the dotted paper but I did not enjoy how the paper buckled when gluing objects onto it. That problem was solved as I explored journals on Amazon. I found a journal with heavier weight dot paper. It has 80 pages of 170gsm paper, so in between the weight of drawing paper and watercolor paper.  It's great! I can glue paper on the page with no bubbles or buckling.

Click on the photo to see this journal on Amazon

Click on the photo to see this journal on Amazon

My pages so far:

You also get a sneak peak into my word of the year for 2023: Place. But I'll expand more on that in another post. I'm also joining Junk Journal January (@megjournals on IG) which starts tomorrow. A sneak peak at my first page along with a tracking page is below.

I'm looking forward to re-connecting with the things that put me in my happy 'place' in the new year. The things that bring me joy, peace, rest, and energy.

I hope you have plans for the year ahead that connect you to the things that bring significance and peace to your life.

 Commonplace Box?

You gotta love Instagram. I enjoy scrolling through and looking at art and other inspiring ideas. Last week @kriscamealy posted an idea she got from @shapingtheriver (aka Christine Heister). The idea was to use a card catalog and write the kinds of quotes you put in a commonplace book on index cards and file them in the card catalog. Kris posted a photo of the card catalog/filing box she purchased and commented that she was going to file her cards by topic. I fell in love with this idea!

First, I love vintage filing boxes/card catalogs. I have a small collection of wood ones. I mainly collect vintage Weis boxes, which were made not far from where I live from the late 1800's through 1963. Plus I enjoy writing on index cards. In fact, when I go to estate sales I pick up packages of older index cards whenever I see them. Older index cards are made from a nice heavyweight paper. The index cards they sell in stores now are so flimsy. I like the weight of vintage ones.

Second, I love the practice of commonplacing. I have practiced it since long before I knew what it was called, always writing quotes or passages from books in my written journals. Here is a definition from a blog post I wrote about the practice way back in 2013 when I first learned about the term.

"Commonplacing is the act of selecting important phrases, lines, and/or passages from texts and writing them down; the commonplace book is the notebook in which a reader has collected quotations from works she or he has read. Commonplace books can also include comments and notes from the reader."  (From "Commonplaces: An Introduction" by John Hilgart and Van Hillard

Some other definitions:

• A book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.
• A notebook in which you enter memorabilia.
• The recording of words and ideas in a commonplace.
  

So, combining the idea of a commonplace book in a filing box on index cards - what could be better! And I love Kris' idea of cataloging them by topic. It makes them easy to find when I'm looking for a quote for a blog post or to place in an art journal. PLUS, I'm decorating them just a bit with some collage or washi tape. It all makes this a perfect ongoing project! 

Thanks Kris and Christine for turning me on to a great idea, or maybe a new addiction!

The 2021 Advent Words Challenge is just around the corner! You can read about what this year's challenge will look like here.

 Bible Study and Art

I am never happier than when the two things that bring me great joy and pleasure converge. Creating art that comes out of my time spent studying the Word of God helps me both take in the Word more deeply, and it helps me pull together and express what I have studied. My art time then becomes both a way of meditation and an expression of creativity.

A few recent examples:

This year I have been studying 2 Corinthians with a friend. We are doing a slow study and following rabbit trails that come up as we study. I did the above page to walk through 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 and gain a better understanding of what Paul means when he says, "We have this treasure in jars of clay...". (To understand how I "walk through" a passage in study, see this page from the Bible Study Tips and Techniques page.)

This phrase I wrote stuck out for me: We live for Christ.

And that led me on a rabbit-trail study to explore what is said about "living for Christ". I then compiled and visualized what I found.

Next I broke down a passage that keeps popping up in my studies. I have been memorizing it over the past few months.

However, it feels too busy, so I may do it over.  Since I meditate on the Word as I make it visual, it won't have  been wasted time if I choose to do it over.

What do you do to help you take God's Word into your heart and mind in a deeper way?

The Longings of My Heart

The Longings of My Heart

I haven't been blogging much this summer. I've been making art and posting it on Instagram and, for the most part, I've been rather introspective and contemplative over the summer. A lot is weighing on my mind and on my heart. So, I've been reading and making art and praying and digging deeper into the Bible...a lot! 

As I have struggled over the months with concerns about the pandemic, about how divisive things are, and how there seems to be less and less compassion toward one another, I have dug deeper and deeper into Bible study. God's Word guides us to His ways and His heart.

As Christ-followers we have God's Word to guide us, to show us who we are to be and how we are to live. The work of every Christ-follower is to grow in their knowledge of God's Word. But it does not end there. We need to know the text, but we also, just as improtantly, need to live out the text. A quote from Augustine captures this well:

“So anyone who thinks that he has understood the divine scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by his understanding build up this double love of God and neighbor, has not yet succeeded in understanding them.”

The study of God's Word must transform us into the people God wants us to be. It must enable us in becoming Christ-like. I started reading a book by Jen Wilkin called "In His Image" this summer. I have not, in all honesty, made it much past the introduction because of one question she puts forth.

"For the believer wanting to know God's will for her life, the first question to pose is not "What should I do?" but "Who should I be?" "

This is our highest calling, to grow into the person God calls us to be, to become. Jen Wilkin goes on to say, "Of course, the questions "What should I do?" and "Who should I be?" are not unrelated. But the order in which we ask them matters. If we focus on actions without addressing our hearts, we may end up merely as better behaved lovers of self." 

For a number of years we have had a saying at our church that "doing flows out of being". When we focus on who we are to be in Christ, we will then make the decisions that enable us to do the right things, the things we are called by God to do.

As I was trying to pull together the different things I was studying this summer I started trying to narrow the thoughts and Scripture passages down to conclusions. And I tried to make sense of them by jotting them in a kind of mind map type of manner. I have put them together in a journal, cuz making my notes artistic is another way for me to pull things together!

Bottomline: Who should I be? Be like Christ.

Some more photos from my spiritual formation journal:

 

My favorite quote to start a new journal with is:

This quote aptly fits my spiritual formation journal which will fill with quotes and Bible study notes and the "longings of my heart".

 

Rhythms of Daily Life February 17 Edition

First up are my weekly spreads in my commonplace art journal: Weeks 5, 6 and 7. I'm enjoying journaling bits and pieces of my life this way. It helps me see the rhythm of it.

Week 5

February Cover Page

This quote fits my journaling practice so well!

Week 6

Week 7

January 31st was the start of this year's 100 Day Project. My theme this year is 100 Days of Bird Art. I am posting them daily on Instagram, but here are a few of my favorites so far.

Day 1 and my tracker

Day 5

Day 7

Days 10 & 11

Days 12 & 13

Day 14

The daily rhythms of my art life have fallen into a nice, sustainable pace.

Rhythms of Daily Life January 25th Edition

 

Rhythms of Daily Life January 25th Edition

I'm finding it hard to believe that we are in the last week of January already. The month has flown right by. But today I land on the day we celebrate the birth of my daughter, Jamie. Happy Birthday, Jamie! 41 today. That time has flown by also, and I honestly don't know how I got to be as old as I am. I sure don't feel like it in my mind. LOL!

So far, I like the flow of my art/creative projects this year. Capturing the things in my week that I want to remember in a visual commonplace book is going well. It's a good pace that enables me to make a little art each day. Here are my weekly spreads for weeks 3 and 4:

My 100 Day Project

This collage corner with the bird on it inspired me to do the 100 Day Project this year. I wasn't sure if I was going to participate this year as it is beginning January 31st, which is two months earlier than normal. But that little bit of inspiration got me excited, so beginning on the 31st I will do 100 days of bird art - mainly collage, of course. I made a junk journal with 100 pages to put my daily pieces of bird art in.

My Word of the Year: Rhythm

Each year I make it a habit to select a Bible verse or passage to use as a theme with my word of the year. This year I chose Matthew 11:28-30. I made a page with the passage to go into my journal.

That's all for now. Have a good week!