Week 3 ~ The Seduction

Oops, I was so seduced, I forgot to blog!
Seriously, whether as a result of the book,
or just the random planetary alignments,
I have been inspired to reignite my photography business.
Completely are utterly absorbed by the process,
I have been spending hours,
hours, and hours,
getting the website updated,
trawling through old images etc etc etc...
You can see progress so far here:
www.mckinley-rodgers.com

Anyhow, all my 'free' time has been spent on this,
I've actually done little else.
Time for a little more balance this week me thinks :)

So what about you?
Were you seduced this week?

Week 2 ~ Beginnings

Is it ironic that for the chapter on beginnings,
I nearly failed to begin?
But for the commitment of posting here,
I would have stumbled at the first hurdle!

Why are beginnings so difficult?
Sure there are those days,
like the start of new romance,
where you are filled with promise and inspiration;
but they are few and far between.

Most of the time
I am just trying to coax the barely smoking embers,
into the dancing and glowing flames I admire in other peoples fire...

But one of the realisations I have been having of late,
is this need to start somewhere ~
and often not the place I've idealised ~
to get where you need to go to.
And yes,
that journey will more than likely have some extra stops,
some will be welcome surprises,
others not so much.
But you got to keep going.

I really wanted to create a page in my art journal to celebrate beginnings.
I wanted it to be the first page in my new moeskine journal which I knew if I didn't just begin,
I would be forever waiting for the divine inspiration worthy of it's creamy beige pages.

I had no idea what to do,
so I just started.
Layer after layer,
things were just not looking right.
In fact they were looking as far from right as I could imagine!
At one point I wanted to cry.
I couldn't believe I had been so foolhardy,
beginning with no plan,
and ruining the first pages of my new journal...
And then,
divine inspiration came...

The page above is my homage to beginnings.

Week 1 ~ What We Ache For

"This book is about learning to focus your intent and engage your will in order to create while simultaneously learning to let go, to surrender the process to something largers so that it can carry you deeper into yourself, your creative work, and the world"

I spent much of this week in contemplation,
and these words rang particularly true.
When I started my art journal,
on one day I would find myself creating effortlessly,
producing something I found not only cathartic,
but also something (usually surprisingly) aesthetically pleasing.

Yet on others,
I all but failed at trying to convey the expressions in my minds eye.
Seemingly creating nothing but a mess,
I have had to consciously remind myself to bring focus back to the process,
to surrender to it and,
rescuing it from the mantle of failure,
putting it into a box marked:
"new learning experiences"
after all,
isn't that how we grow?

I have also spent a lot of time thinking about how my sprituality, sexuality and creativity is currently served.
It's generated big questions,
illuminated obvious gaps,
and exposed layers I never even knew existed...
And this is only the introduction! :)

When I journal I feel free...
When I journal I see through my spirits eye...
When I journal I discover who I am...
I ache for belonging...

What about you?

Week 1 ~ Here's the plan...

I am so excited to be working on a new book!
Oriah is one of my favourite writers,
and I hope you will find her words as lyrical and moving as I do.

This book however is new to me,
so I look forward to exploring it with you.
As it is divided into 12 chapters,
I was planning to work with a chapter each week ~
Sunday, to Sunday,
beginning today.

My hope is to then post my reflections of the previous chapter each Saturday,
and that you might wish to share the same,
in the comments here,
or by a link to your blog.

Although the book,
and it's associated exercises,
are guided for writers predominantly,
I plan to use them as prompts for my art journal ~
so I will not be strictly focussed on the written word.
I know there are those of you hoping to share this journey who are photographers, jewellery makers, as well as writers;
and I hope you will find the chapters help you go deeper within the work of your chosen genre.

As Oriah wrote here:
"This book is about learning to focus your intent and engage your will in order to create while simultaneously learning to let go,
to surrender the process to something larger so that it can carry you deeper into yourself,
your creative work,
and the world."
This is my hope for me.
And this is my hope for you.

So this is the plan.
What do you think?

Join Me

Beginning on 28 June 2009,
I will be reading and working through Oriah's book,
"What We Ache For"
Care to join me?