Day 210/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
Starting a hobby can feel daunting when it's the first time you've given yourself permission to indulge in time and pleasure for yourself. It's not something that your body is used to so it's wise to take it gently, savouring every moment.
When I began my soiree into paper craft and in particular, scrapbooking, I was motivated by the love of photographed memories and the opportunity to create a beautiful album that honoured them.
My first exposure was to my sister-in-laws albums that she proudly shared with me on a rare visit. The excitement welled in me and I began my online and local search for supplies.
Purchasing simple tools and beginning packages of papers and ephemera began an exploration into my preferences in colours, textures, styles, layouts, storylines, and more. Delightful and also frightening as my inner dialogue was insistent on telling me that I wasn't a creative sort of person.
Hobbies, as it happens, don't demand perfection. That's the godsend that kept me motivated to try my hand at something new and real and tactile that brought me pleasure.
Sorting out where to begin with the many photos that I had placed in simple plastic sleeves meant that I could recategorise them into stories and events that had meaning, and take the opportunity to relive the pleasures that they brought me.
Experimenting with different styles to see which ones made my heart race with excitement was supported by taking the time to really feel into my experience and savour the feelings of pleasure and joy.
Over the years my style has settled into a mix of vintage grunge. My kit has grown to include a vast range of tools and ephemera that fit neatly into two trolley caddies ready for action at a moment's notice.
The products of my hobby have a special space on my bookshelves. Family and personal experiences forming a visual history of the life I've lived, wrapped in a style that is all my own.
Still evolving, I've added my sewing and stitching skills to my pages, and am beginning to consider how to include strokes and washes of watercolour.
My attention is drawn to crafting personal journals from altered books at present. Having tried junk journals, I'm excited by upcycling books with themes that have meaning to me, such as specialist gardening books.
Start a hobby just for you. Allow yourself to explore, craft, create, make mistakes, get messy, try new ideas, and forget about perfection. Show them only to those you choose, or no one at all.
As you exercise your creative impulse, more of those creative juices will begin to flow, and not only into your hobby, but into all areas of your life.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.