On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Use your verbs

I almost missed journaling yesterday, but at the last hour I figured it would be a good way to pull myself out of a minor funk. So I sat at the dining room table until 1:30 a.m. and came up with this page. And I feel better.

That's the thing about creativity. It really doesn't matter what level of skill you've got. Once you get yourself into the "zone," neurology shifts and something happens. Amusement surfaces in spite of yourself. Or maybe it's wonder at how the color combines. Or the delight of playing with new toys. It really doesn't matter.

Yesterday was a cloudy day, the next storm is rolling in this afternoon. There are five of them out there, stacked across the Pacific, hovering, headed right toward the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. We're all in this together. But it isn't an earthquake, we aren't in Haiti, just about to receive the rain we truly need.

I invited Steve to go Letterboxing with me yesterday morning. It was my first attempt to follow the clues and find a hidden logbook and stamp. I brought mine and was ready to go.

There are many letterboxes hidden in Sonoma County. The clues for this one were easy to interpret - and it wasn't there! I am quite certain we did everything right because there wasn't much else to do.

We drove on the appointed street approximately one mile to the cemetery that was specifically named. Can't mess up on that. In the northeast corner there is, indeed, a statue of Jesus, just as the clue advised. The statue was walled. There was a space behind the wall. On the ground, three feet from Jesus, the clue went on, there would be a hidden letterbox. There was not! I shoved away leaves, old shoes, paper cups and other detritus behind the wall to the right. Then, thought I, maybe it means on Jesus' right since he was facing outward. So I snuck behind the wall on the other side and pawed around some more. No letterbox.

I was snappish, I admit, when I woke up yesterday morning. Failure at my first attempt to letterbox didn't help my mood. I emailed the placer, hoping to learn if he has checked on his hidings recently, does he know the box is AWOL.

Steve and I ran errands instead of rejoicing in our find. I took a nap. He cooked a great roast beef dinner. We walked the dogs almost two miles, for which they were grateful. I read for hours. He went to bed. I was wide awake from my after nap tea. I read some more.

Then the niggling started. "You haven't journaled yet, you haven't journaled yet." It's too late, I said in my gut, much too late, it's after midnight.

As Roz Stendahl says, "It's never too late to journal." I agree.

4 comments:

  1. Awesome journal page !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your little dog and the whole page is wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, wonderful page! And the writing drew me in today too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. And you made one fantastic page! I love how you Teesha Moored the dog! I was in a funk having signed up for too many classes but now I am working my way through the lessons and adding some other stuff in between. I feel like I'm moving again and that feels much better. One step at a time really counts. Or, starting a page late at night and then enjoying yourself with it after all!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails