Creative Energy Journaling

Two small matchbook-style journals.
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The Mighty Tiny Matchbook Journal (and Other Ways to Avoid the Mistakes that Keep You from Journaling!)

I’ve heard the lament from quite a number of you: you bought a lovely journal, and you think the activities I’ve been posting look really fun and interesting, but you are too busy to journal right now. Maybe later, when life calms down a bit . . . I feel your pain! I don’t know about…

Blue and green circles and curves.
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Geometric “Self-Portraits”

Artists have created self-portraits for ages, probably more for what the artists discover about themselves than as a way to create a likeness to show to the world. As with most things in Creative Energy Journaling, this activity is design to give you some of the benefits of the exercise of creating a self-portrait, without having to know how to draw or paint, and without spending hours and hours staring into a mirror.

Doodle with blue and grey watercolor cloud and wave shapes, and small yellow slivers.
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Be a (Mindful) Tourist in Your Own Town

A great way to practice mindfulness and open your eyes to the world you live in every day is to play “tourist” in your own town.  Often artists keep sketchbooks not so much to accumulate sketches as to provide a way to focus their attention on the overlooked interest and beauty in their everyday lives….

Colored pencil drawing with blue/green watery shapes and red/orange fiery shapes.
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Union of Opposites

Often, we mentally place two qualities, choices, or even people, in opposition. Then, we conclude that more of one (or for one) must necessarily come at the expense of the other, without even thinking to ask if the two people/ideas/paths are really opposed. How might your thinking change if you considered whether these two things could be like the warp and weft of a piece of fabric, both valuable and necessary, both contributing to its strength and beauty?

Six-fold symmetric design with wet-in-wet watercolor in a color wheel format.

“Stained Glass” Mandalas—Fill Your Journal Page with Beautiful Light

This week’s activity is a feast for those of us (me! me!) who love color and light. It also introduces my all-time favorite watercolor technique—working wet-in-wet within shapes—which you can adapt to all sorts of other situations. Best of all, it’s just about guaranteed to produce beautiful results, even if you are brand-new to watercolor.