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.

Summer Art Journaling

 Summer Art Journaling

This has been a different summer for me. Good, but different. I decided early on that I needed to skip a summer Words Challenge. Although I love the summer Words Challenges as I usually go through a book of the Bible, I just sensed that I needed a break this summer. I spent my time making art, doing lots of Bible study, connecting with our families again, reading in the backyard, and landscaping.

My word of the year this year is "rhythm". I started out making rhythm of life weekly spreads, but slowed down some over the summer to a monthly page.

I participated in Junk Journal July on Instagram, which was a nice way to do some art for play using the word promts from @megjournals. Some of my favorite pages were:

And I made a pice of painted paper collage in a frame for my kitchen. I'm working on a companion piece now.

Overall, it was a good summer. We had a few rough spots though. My Father-in-law passed away at the end of July after being ill for quite a while. And we have spent a lot of time with our elderly mothers and their health (and driving) needs. It's that phase in life for us. Then it seemed as soon as the calendar switched to September my planner began to fill and the busyness of the new school year has set in. I'm trying hard to hold onto a few of the rhythms I set during the summer though! It's good to look back at my summer though the art that I made. :)

Thessalonians Revisited

Thessalonians Revisited

It's been a little over a month since I last posted here. Once I posted my last post for the Thessalonians Words Challenge, I took a break from my blog. I often find after posting daily for a month straight that I need to take some time off from it.

That is not the case for making art. I don't often find a need to take a break from it for the simple reason that making art and getting creative are a vital part of my life. My time spent in creativity is like nutrition to my spiritual, emotional and mental life.

I haven't left the Thessalonian letters yet. In addition to the Words Challenge I have also spent the summer doing a Bible study through these books with a few friends. We have just a few more weeks before we complete 2 Thessalonians. 

I have found so much encouragement in these letters for the times we face. I have found over the past few years that I cannot align myself with either of the two major political parties in the U.S. Both have such glaring faults and both seem to be leaning toward the extreme ends of the spectrum. Which, I believe, is what is causing such extreme divisiveness in our nation. That divisiveness is in direct contrast to how Christ calls us to live in the world, and it deeply saddens me.

I find myself often, through this Bible study in Thessalonians, seeing a clear call on how followers of Christ are called to live:

Encouraging one another to live lives worthy of God; encouraging, strengthening and building each other up in times of crisis; increasing and overflowing in love for each other and for everyone else; living in peace with each other; being kind to each other and to everyone else; being joyful, continually praying, living with gratitude. *

What I haven't found in Thessalonians is fighting with each other and using hateful language on social media, hating people who disagree with you politically, putting national rights before our call to sacrifice and to serve and love others, hating those who look different than you, being unkind to people simply because of their political views, their skin color, or their economic status - I don't find any of these in the Thessalonian letters, or for that matter, anywhere in the New Testament where we take our call on how to live as Christ's followers.

I can get upset easily about the divisiveness that is plaguing our nation, and even our churches, but I have been trying to use these admonitions from Paul to remind me of who I am and how I am called to live. We need to stand against the inclination to allow thing like politics and racism divide us and cause us to hate. We must love, and let that be what guides our words, our attitudes, and our actions. Would you join me in this? If we live this way, imagine what can change!

I had originally planned on doing the Thessalonians Words Challenge in my junk journal, but then had changed my mind and did it in my everyday Leuchtturm journal. I had made a collage of the Thessalonians words in my junk journal before I began doing the daily challenge posts and art, but I forgot about it until I picked up my junk journal to begin a new challenge. It was a pleasant surprise!

My Leuchtturm journal started getting pretty chunky after the words challenge.

Later this week I'll delve into the other ways I have been keeping my art practice active. Blessings to you all!

*1 TH 2:12, 3:2-3, 5:11; 1 TH 3:12, 4:9, 2 TH 3:3;  1 TH 5:13, 5:15, 5:16, 5:17, 5:18.

Bullet Journal and Art Journal

Bullet Journal and Art Journal

This year I decided to return to a journaling format I used a few years back to record daily life as well as to keep a record of my word of the year. I am also intrigued with many of the aspects of bullet journaling as a means of documenting life and tracking some of your habits. As I said at the beginning of the year, I'm using a Leuchtturm 1917 journal with grid pages. My post about why I chose this journal is here.

In this journal this year I am working through how to live out my word of the year, fruit. Previous posts over the past few weeks have highlighted how I chose this word, how I do a word study for my word, doing a mind map for my intentions for my word, and then, this past Friday, about the difference between intentions and goals. You can access all of these posts by clicking on January in the blog archive column on the right side of this page.

Some of the other ways I'm using this journal is to record events through weekly page spreads:

I"m also tracking a few things this year:

My non-fiction reading list

Birds I spot on my walks and in my backyard 

And finally, I'm adding in pages as things happen or as I am inspired. Such as a page remembering our weekend in Traverse City, MI to celebrate my daughters 40th birthday with a girls road trip.

Then there is a page of some of the little phrases I say a lot. These little sayings or mantras tend to reflect what we value or things we've learned over time. They tend to reflect who we are and can serve as reminders when we need encouragement or motivation. This page also gave me an opportunity to play with the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pen set I recently purchased.

So far, I am enjoying the Leuchtturm 1917 journal. At first I was concerned with shadowing - seeing the shadow of what your writing or the items you glued on the following page. But as I have gone along it hasn't bothered me too much. I love the grid paper and its a nice sturdy journal. But because I like making journals and binding books, and because I like a variety of journal and art styles, I have a second journal going. I made a junk journal out of an old book and I'm using it to play in and to do pages for different art challenges or groups I participate in.

#livingyourword2020 #junkjournaljanuary, #getmessyartjournal, #gmseasonofhome, #jan202020creativechallenge

If you choose a word of the year and are looking for ways to live it out through the year, I am a part of a faith-based Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year 2020. Join us!

Some of the art supplies used in this post:

Vintage paper packs, Dennison red border labels and tags can be found at Found On Brighton Etsy.

Disclosure:A note about Amazon links on my blog:

I am giving Amazon affiliation a try, which means I may receive a small percentage off sales made through clicking on the Amazon links found on my blog. There is no additional cost to you.

July Art Journaling

Happy 4th of July ~ Independence Day!

Other than the heat, which I don't like, I love July. This is my slow-down month of the year. The church I work at intentionally leaves the calendar very light in July and we, the staff, keep our projects limited as well. And lo and behold, I am already beginning to feel refreshed! 

The hubby and I are taking off tomorrow for a long weekend in Michigan. We are just going to meander. There are 33 Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the state, with 12 of them in a 60 mile radius in the Lansing/Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo area. So we have booked a little Airbnb apartment in a secluded area and we will do some driving tours of the houses, hit some flea markets, shops and parks along the way. We'll visit with some family, and on Sunday

 tour the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids. A leisurely weekend away.

It seems my creative juices have finally been refreshed this past week as well. I am finally feeling like ideas are coming into my mind more frequently and with some energy! Here is what I am working on and playing with in the month of July:

My M word for my word of the year and our Living Your Word A-Z challenge is "Make". I'm not a fan of the term, "find some time to...". If we want time to be creative or read or garden or whatever it is we want to do, we need to make the time. We need to be intentional about carving out time for rest and hobbies and self-care. Yes, there are seasons of life when this is more difficult, but overall it tends to come down to making choices with how we spend out time. And I am intentional about making sure I make time for the things that feed my soul and the things that refresh my heart and mind. So make is my word right now.

I'm participating in Elyssa Nalani's Scripture writing community called Club 119. We are working through Psalm 119, writing out the Scripture passages and adding creative elements. I'm enjoying digging into this familiar Psalm once again. I'm using a Fabriano notebook with grid paper for my journal.

(I ended up getting my s backwards! I decided to leave it be.)

First stanza, vs 1-8

Second stanza, vs 9-16

I'm also participating in a junk journaling challenge on Instagram called Junk Journal July. It has some great prompts for quick pages. You can check out #junkjournaljuly on Instagram.

Day 1 was to be an introduction but I simply did some collage.

Day 2: Make a collage

Day 3: Use a tag

Day 4: Very vintage

It feels great to have my creative energy flowing again and I'm looking forward to playing throughout the month of July. 

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year

Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I facilitate a Facebook group about Living your Word of the Year. In it we share insights through blog posts and connect with other like-hearted and like-minded people who want to live out a word focus throughout the year. We offer participants a bi-weekly A-Z Inspiration to help prompt reflection and creativity. as well as other inspirational ways to connect with your word of the year. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word throughout the year, explore new ideas, record thoughts, prayers, and events, you are invited to join our Facebook group.

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/203309083575277/

Please use #livingyourword2019 on social media.

Check out the other blogs:
Bernice: www.newlycreative.com
Valerie: www.valeriesjodin.com/blog