A short list this week!
Can you tell I’ve been indoors a lot, keeping little ones busy?!
by Richard Van Camp
illustrations by Julie Flett
we sang you from a wish
we sang you from a prayer
we sang you home
and you sang back
we give you kisses
to help you grow
and songs to let you know
that you are loved
as we give you roots
you give us wings
and through you
we are born again
our everyday miracle
our everyday smile
our forever home
is inside of you
thank you for joining us
thank you for choosing us
thank you for becoming
the best of all of us
we sang you home
thank you for singing back
welcome to the world
we love you!
a reminder of how kids awaken a new us. they leave us changed and for the better.
I so badly need to go into hibernation. I’ve been filling my head with ideas and images for the last 3 years; collecting pieces I love on my phone, in notebooks, in Google docs… I’ve been squirreling away stuff. I keep telling myself that I’ll need it later. Now it’s time.
I’m ready to do a brain dump. To go back through everything I’ve gathered and create something with it. I don’t know what it will look like, but I’m excited and hopeful. It feels important, and at the same time, I’m also afraid. What if it ends up being nothing?
I know that I care about stories and making things with layers of meaning. I’m not sure how these pieces will come together, but I’m hoping that by the spring, I’ll be able to answer this question.
I also know myself. I can easily list 10 projects or more that I would love to tackle this winter. I want to sew a lap quilt made of wools from home. I want to sew a Canadiana quilt. I want to host more mitten making workshops. I want to make an online course: How to Sew Upcycled Mittens from Sweaters. I want to help my Mom finish her online course: Sew Your First Quilt. I want to do more printing with wood. I want to learn how to sew my own clothes. I want to offer my Writing Acts of Kindness e-course….
See how this brain of mine works?! I am very good at filling my time with a whole bunch of projects that could easily veer me away from doing the work that I need to do.
So in thinking about my creative hibernation, I’ve asked myself, What will inactivity look like for me this winter? Meaning, how will I stay focused and settled? Because I need to keep my head clear in order for everything to come out.
This is my plan:
So if you notice lots of projects popping up in my Instagram (@verylainie), please ask me how my writing is going. It will be the reminder I need to stay the course rather than avoiding it – because I’m afraid.
Here’s to an interesting winter…
If you’d like to follow along with me as I figure out what this looks like, you’ll find me on Instagram (@verylainie).
I recently decided to become a grown up…
I have wanted to learn about makeup since I was in elementary school.
My mom never wore it. My grandma didn’t either.
My Auntie Lyd did. I remember asking her if she would teach me how to properly wear makeup. She once talked to me about blush and how it went along the cheek bones. I didn’t get to learn more from her. My Auntie Lyd died in a house fire when I was in grade 8.
The first time I wore makeup, I was in grade 9. My cousin Troy had asked me to be a junior bridesmaid in his wedding. My older cousin Laurie (who I thought was the coolest) took me to a pharmacy and picked out what I needed. It’s pretty much what I buy and wear now. A Cover Girl compact. Blush. Eye shadow. Mascara.
20 years later, I’ve decided to buy something different and figure out how to wear it. And I don’t know why.
And why now? We have three small children. My time is limited. And financially, I shouldn’t be spending money on something like makeup. And yet, I want to.
Maybe it’s because I’m tired of looking frumpy. Maybe it’s because I want to feel good. I have no idea. But I do love how it looks when people wear it well. I love the colour and how it can bring a healthy glow to someone’s face.
I also want to teach Charlie how to wear makeup when she’s older (if she wants to). I want it to be seen as something that is fun and more about how she feels when wearing it. I think growing up I picked up on a lot of negative messages shared by those around me. People who wore makeup were self-absorbed or caught up in their appearance. Wearing makeup was to draw attention to yourself. For me, I just want to feel more confident wearing it and more knowledgeable.
So if you happen to know of some good videos I could watch or a place to go to learn more, let me know!
Why this word?
these two lines stood out to me…
“the heart is regarded as the center of a person’s thoughts and emotions”
“the central or innermost part of something.”
I’ve had something on my mind for over a year now and I haven’t made it happen. It’s something that is close to my heart which is why I probably keep myself busy with other projects. You can’t fail or struggle, if you haven’t gone there yet.
In 2019, I’m going to make it happen. It will be a part of my creative hibernation.
Want to choose a word for 2019? Susannah Conway has a great 5 day email course, Find Your Word (it’s free). You need to try it. I love it. She has a way of taking a complex idea and breaking it down into simple and meaningful steps.
It’s been a game changer for me. I constantly come back to my word throughout the year. It helps keep me grounded and focused, constantly working towards my goals; where a typical new year’s resolution kept me going for a week.
I wrote a book because I need to go into hibernation.
The Art of Creative Hibernation was my way of thinking through what hibernation might look like for me.
I need some solid time to sort through all of the stuff I have been squirreling away in notebooks, Google docs, on my phone… time to take my learning and pull it together.
I need to stop procrastinating and make something that really matters – something that will be useful to me, to our kids, and to others. I have no idea what it is, but I’m going to figure it out.
My hibernation might include certain days of the week where I’m not on Instagram or other social platforms at all. It will involve not doing any “work” on weekends, getting a membership to a local yoga studio, and a lot of writing. A lot. And it needs to involve some type of new routine that has me focusing more on my health.
You’re welcome to follow along as I try and figure out what this will look like. Maybe it will inspire a hibernation of your own…
