AND SO IT CONTINUES...

Long ago, when I had that very first brain fart -- about something I later came to call "seasonality" -- it was simply the realization that life was better when you made the most of its seasons. Back then we were still big-city-suburbanites, and  it was mostly about how I decorated my home and entertained, and that when I incorporated seasonal touches into these activities, I was much less likely to get bored with them, or with everything I owned, making me want to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff I really didn't need.

Then we migrated to the Texas Hill Country, and it turned into something else altogether. I started reading books like Animal Vegetable Miracle, The Good Life,  and A Reasonable Life, and I learned about the Slow Food and Farm to Table movements. Then "seasonality" became less about stuff, and more about how I gardened and what I ate, watching the seasons change outside my treehouse windows, and wondering what kind of world we were bequeathing our kids and grandkids.

Twenty five or so years down the line from that first light bulb moment, I am a much different person. I spend much less time entertaining and decorating, and my hubby has taken over the gardening. I still love to cook and eat what is in season and grown nearby, but mostly I spend my time playing with those grandkids, reading, journaling and occasionally, drawing or painting. Is it any surprise then, that Seasonality has followed me here as well?

I'm pretty sure that, back in December, I told you about grabbing this planner at Costco just because I needed one, then discovering that it was actually a mindfulness journal. But did I mention that a few days later, I was digging through my art shelves looking for something, and stumbled upon a book I had bought a couple of years ago, then forgot all about?

When synchronicity knocks, I listen, and it was clearly telling me I needed to use the techniques from that book to develop an artful journaling habit in the other one.

First step was to copy the yearly insert and paste it inside the cover, to remind me of my daily, weekly and monthly assignments.

My First Assignment

The Result

 I really did intend to follow their instructions, but then my hand, of its own accord, reached out and grabbed something that was laying nearby, and I knew that was the only image I needed to fill my altar -- the place I go every fall "to catch my breath".

Instead of New Years Resolutions, we were asked to make a vision board showing things we wanted more, or less, of in our lives in the year to come.

I had a lot of fun prepping my journal according to the No Excuses instructions -- adding things like envelopes for collecting collage fodder in, and sheets of water color paper on which to do our weekly "card peep" sketches. I spent so much time searching for the right colors of washi tape and envelopes to match, in seasonal colors (hmmmm...) that I ran out of time to finish all four of that month's card peeps.

So Wintery!

One of the many meditative coloring pages provided in my planner.

One of the No Excuses daily instructions was to track the weather, while my agenda had this handy little chart for tracking your mood each day. I ignored them both and turned that mood chart into a food chart, where I could track what was in season and available at the farmers' market.

My Beginning Assignment For February

The collage was supposed to be of lots of February-ish images torn from magazines, to use as inspiration. Again I disobeyed, and used my collection of colorful painted papers to pay homage to the first of the asparagus spears that were poking their heads up in my garden.

I actually managed to complete all four card peeks this month...and, of course,  they were all about seasonal things!

My Version Of A Love Letter To Myself

So, as I said, when synchronicity knocks, I listen! What was it telling me? Perhaps to slow down and pay attention? To spend more time on art and writing and sharing? To remember that life is better with Seasonality in it?

 I still don't know for sure. All I do know is, it's gonna be fun y'all!