More journaling

Here are a few recent pages and snippets from my small by-the-bed journal. I find I can write in a small journal much easier than a large one - I have tried a few times to go bigger but the intimacy is lost - so the big one is for grander stuff! This is a lovely hotchpotch of scribbles, comments, book of days and lots of sketches and photos - some work out better than others! But I love them all! It is quite hard to publish these as they are personal - and journals record what you are feeling at that moment, not how you may be feeling now, which I find quite interesting. As I write, I have a whole pile of bits from today that are going in tomorrow (today is a Headache Day).....this is the best medicine for anyone's daily life - it's fun, therapeutic and you get a real sense of achievement. It's a record and a place for reflection, for ideas and for grumbles. It's what you want it to be and it's all yours.

I LOVE drawing faces and people and am gradually getting better. I have to force myself to keep practising!

Above is a small copy of a big drawing I did (on the right) from my favourite rock - a lump of Chrysocolla) which I incorporated into a smaller page. It's fun to recycle.

I HATE MY LEGS!!!!!!!!!!!

I do some colour pages, too, but not many as these are usually in the bigger journals. Here are some more typical pages.........

Whatever you write or draw, it doesn't matter because it's the PROCESS that counts, the doing. These kinds of pages aren't for judging...I am just trying to show the fun that went into them. This works better than my migraine medicine!

I have a big stash of bought journals collected on my travels, which must be used - this one is covered in marbled paper from Florence - but I know that I would have even more fun if I made the journals myself, which I will do once the other pile is a bit smaller! My friend and teacher, Gwen Diehn, has written a wonderful book on journal making, which I am keen to explore much more.