Celebrating writing poetry after a long break, feeding my artist (metaphorically and literally), returning to my bullet journalling and DANCING. With dreams. And desires.
Table of Contents
Writing poetry
I did it!
Not written poetry in months, and this week I did. Thank you Dean!
Having friends read my poetry aloud is utterly delicious.
Image: The selfie that inspired one of my poems
I had some other achievements to celebrate, which I’ll clue you in on when I have more info to share. Acknowledged my hard work with getting food delivered. It was delightful.
Feeding my artist with whimsy & playtime
I bought my artist some gifts this week.
Namely crayons and tea.
Some folks refer to Wednesdays as ‘hump days’. Urban Dictionary says it’s “a proverbial hill” to overcome in order to get through a tough week. Well, my Wednesday was anything but.
I’d totally forgotten how much I enjoy oolong. 🍒
Thinking about Artist Dates as play has been helping me introduce and welcome more fun into my life. Regardless of whether I have capacity for 2 hours of scheduled solo fun each week. And that’s making a huge difference to my wellbeing and creativity.
Artist Dates are assigned play.
A solo expedition to explore something that interests you.
…think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play.
Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration.
When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.
Julia Cameron on Artist Dates, emphasis mine
Bujo 2.0
I started bullet journalling again. I’m so excited to resume this practice. I’ve been overwhelmed by my life in recent weeks, whilst also looking to the future and longing to plan my sabbatical. It feels great to return to something that has helped me so much in the past.
Having a page for jotting down activities for my sabbatical is making a huge difference. I’m no longer worrying that I’m forgetting stuff all the time. Instead, whenever I remember something I add it to the list.
🕺🏿
Being in my body
Went to another amazing workshop by Camille, Embodied Social Change and deepened my connection to my body. Much of time I’m up in my head thinking, rather than feeling. It was great to get away from the cognitive and into embodied experience and movement.
I talked about some things around ancestry that I’d not thought about before, never mind said out loud. Realised some of the work I have ahead of me. Great timing for that, as I’ll have the headspace, heartspace and time to work through those during my sabbatical.
And I worked through some of it in dance. 💃🏿
And then it was time to be proud, so I hung out with my friends all weekend. I’m sick of all the pinkwashing, which is why I’ve not been to corporate pride in I don’t know how long. One ridesharing app that shan’t be named declared they were supporting LGBTQ+ people – I looked for discounts or donations to charity, but no. They had a page on their website of folks talking about the importance of visibility. Wow, I feel so supported. 🙄
Meanwhile, it was the first year for Black Pride having a whole park to itself. Woo-hoo! The queues were long long long. And there’s work to do to figure out some of the politics (see the tweet & replies). The fight is never over, but sometimes we take a break. 🏳️🌈
What happens to a dream deferred?
One of my friends helped me realise that I’ve met one of my big goals. (Measuring things is hard…) And I’m still coming to terms with what this means for my life in the near-future and beyond. I was just on the verge of giving up hope. So now I need to find another way to procrastinate… Or, just do it. 😅
