Art Journaling and Life in General

Inspiration can be very fickle for me. I remember back in December/January I was never tired. I would stay up all hours of the night and work furiously and had so many ideas that I couldn't get them all down in time. I would get coffee on my way home from work at 5, throw my things down just inside my door, and be covered in paint and glue in a matter of minutes. Then life happened. I can't exactly put my finger on it but know that it was a combination of job stress, personal stress, personal doubt, and just an overall feeling of blah that pretty much sucked every ounce of inspiration out of me. I want to be one of those people who is just inspired all the time. I know that that isn't possible and even the most passionately creative souls can fall into ruts. But aim high right? That way if I'm inspired 80% of the time then that's a great. Learning to turn life's many frustrations into creative energy can be tricky sometimes, but I think I'm getting better at it. AND I keep dreaming of the days (hopefully soon to come) that my frustrations are drastically lowered... :)

So yeah. Art journals. I swear mine weighs about ten lbs now. I have had to add duct tape to the binding and inside cover because it is literally bursting at the seems (Random note: one of my biggest pet peeves is when people misuse the word literally. ie: I literally died. No, you did not, as you are still talking). I love to start with no plan and just glue and paint away and suddenly there is this whole unexpected little world right in front of you. It's like your mind, on paper. And you can see and read and touch it. Imagine if everyone had one. Maybe that is just the nosy person in me, but I'd be very interested to read certain peoples' journals. My pages crack me up sometimes because they are pretty much the perfect representation of my mind: busy, disjointed, vibrant, messy, crazy, indecisive. It's an outlet. It's something I feel strongly about and believe whole-heartedly in. Maybe someday I'll teach a class. Not so much about technique, but just opening a blank page and letting go. What you end up with might surprise you.