I finally finished the 30 Day Journal Challenge last night, having been several days behind almost the entire time. I’m very glad I participated in this. I’d never art journaled before, and sometimes it was a struggle, or I just felt silly. But after only a few days, I could feel an old door of creativity opening.
I was a wildly creative child. I doodled on everything and wrote stories constantly and didn’t think about how “good” any of it was, or whether it lived up to certain standards. In fact, I was proud of it all and freely showed it to people. Creating was as natural to me as breathing. But when I grew up, I told myself I didn’t have time to waste on producing mediocrity, especially when the world was already full of it. I eventually realized that my perfectionism was killing me (across the board, not just in this area). So I’ve been re-programming myself, and releasing my creative self a little at a time. Because I believe that God has plans for her; that I have to crawl before I can walk, and walk before I can run; and that it IS okay to write and draw and make things just for the enjoyment of it, without thought of usefulness or productiveness. I believe that since we’re made in the image of the Creator, creating is an inescapable part of our nature. (Madeleine L’Engle has a lot of great things to say about this.) Everyone has their own art, and there are a million non-artsy ways to express our creativity, so I’m not saying those are any less valid than the traditional arts. I’m just saying I’m trying to get back in touch with those traditional things!
Anyway, this challenge was a good experience and I’d definitely do it again. In fact, I might look for another challenge or set of prompts to do in a few months! It was fun to see my friends’ different takes on the same subject. I also made some new blog friends over the course of the month. :)
Thanks to the awesome Janel for putting this challenge together!
This is fun–I saw this project going around but it looks a little too challenging. I’m looking through your pages, though, and it does look fun (though it would still be hard to keep up with, so kudos for that). I might have to try something similar when I feel I have a good uneventful month. :) Which…compared to your life, all my months are uneventful. :P
I like this idea! Do you have a master list? I think I’d enjoy doing this. :)
If you click on the link, all the prompts are posted on the Running With Scissors blog.
I feel like a doofus. :/ Thanks.
Don’t feel like a doofus! I miss things like that all the time. :)
My teen daughter started to do this, but about 8 days in she started falling behind and I don’t think she picked it back up after our vacation. But I liked that it demonstrated for her that journaling doesn’t have to only be words – it can be creative and fun, too.
Nice work on yours, Brenda. :)