Dear Friends,

As our days get busier, I invite you to color two pages in your journal in the most lovely, relaxing, juicy, joyful colors you can think of.  On one of the pages, think through and write down all the things that make your days wonderful, or worth living, or “get you through the day”.  I’m thinking here of things like “a relaxing cup of tea”, “15 minutes of inspirational reading”, “meditation”, “the quiet in the car on the way home from work”.  What are the little things in the day that sustain and nurture you, that help you live a life worth living?

Now, on the second page, I want you to choose one word from your list, a word that calls to you, that jumps out at you, or that shimmers in some way.  Write that one word in large on your page.  If you’re so inclined, make the lettering special, perhaps adding new colors within the letters themselves.

Now, resolve that to the best of your ability, you will bring whatever action or quality that word refers to into every day of your life —- or at least until another word shimmers!

With love,

Cat

Day 31  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

(This is the photo I tried to include yesterday, unsuccessfully.  From my journal, Cat Charissage, Nov. 2014.)

Dear Friends,

In many Christian traditions, this is the first day of Advent, the season of waiting for the coming of the Divine into human form, aka Christmas.  Almost every spiritual tradition in the world has some sort of celebration at or near the Winter Solstice, the time where darkness fills our days longer than at any other time of the year.  The celebration is not of the darkness, of course, but of the returning hours of light in every day.  (And not to forget, our neighbors in the southern hemisphere are beginning to get ready for their Summer Solstice at this time.  Beach parties, anyone??)

Today, on our Depth Dimension Day, ask yourself how you might be waiting for the light in your own life.  With light as a metaphor for enlightenment and for the Divine, how are you waiting on the Great Mystery at this time in your life?  How might you be waiting for God?

Write or image this in some way in your journal.

Also, writing this post reminded me of an intriguing and inspiring book Waiting for God, by Simone Weil, written during the Second World War when she felt such solidarity with those who were occupied that she ate only what the occupied were rationed for food.  It’s a mystical lyrical meditation, and when I first read it when I was in my mid 20’s, it blew me away!  Perhaps I will pick it up (I still have my copy) today and see if it still has that effect. . .

With love,

Cat

Day 30  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

Dear Friends,

What comes up for you when you ponder the words image, imagination, mage, magi, archimage, magic, imagine, magus, imago?

Today, when I wrote “imagine”, I thought of “migraine”.

What about you?  Who are the Three Magi who might visit your soul?

Play with that.

With love,

Cat

Day 29  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

Dear Friends,

It has been busy for many of us.  I have written many prompts which, if you have wanted to, can pull from your depths much more than 10-15 minutes of reflection and arting.  Today is the day after Thanksgiving for our American friends, and “Black Friday” for all of us.  There’s a lot going on.

After you do what you have to do today, take a rest.  Close your eyes for awhile.  Take a break from your journal, or alternately, catch up on a prompt you didn’t have time to play with before.

Rest.

With love,

Cat

Day 28  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

journal page, Cat Charissage, 2013

Dear Friends,

Those of us who are Canadians join with our American friends and family in wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving Day.  Now, one thing you can do today in your journal is to list some of the things you sincerely feel thankful for in your life.  If it’s a hard day, if you’re able to be reading this, you can be thankful for the fact that you’re not living in a refugee camp as too many of our brothers, sisters, and children are right now.  Be sure to include background colors on your list to represent and brighten your items.

Knowing how the holidays go for many of us, though, perhaps at the end of today you can list, one each on little pieces of paper, the things in your life that you’d LIKE to be thankful for, but don’t FEEL any gratitude for at the moment.  You know, the mother who criticized everything you cooked today, the cousin who broke your Tiffany lampshade when he punted a football in the living room, the daughter who sulked throughout the meal and wouldn’t pull out her earbuds —- those sorts of people and events.   After you list them, draw a basket in your journal, then glue the little pieces of choice people and events as though they are falling into the basket.  Then draw alongside the basket a lid for it.  The page can represent the challenges that are inescapably a part of your life, but by metaphorically putting them into the basket and closing the lid on it, these people and events do not need to obsess your thoughts nor hijack the happinesses to be found today.

A blessed thanksgiving to us all.

With love,

Cat

Day 27  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

detail from painting, Cat Charissage, 2013

Dear Friends,

Many years ago I worked at a sexual assault center, and I learned much from Sandra Butler, the author of Conspiracy of Silence.  She had great depth in her teaching, and one of her comments floored me:  at that time I was struggling between my two life paths, political activism and a contemplative way of life.

She said, “To have an inner life is a political act.”

Does that resonate with you on a deep level, on a soul level?  What might it mean for you?  What kind of life comes out of that for you?

For a little bit if playful humor, today in your journal draw some signs as though you would carry them in a political demonstration or protest march.  What would they say?  “”Don’t tread on my inner life!”  is what comes to mind for me.  What would you write on your sign for the world (or at least the local newspaper) to see?

With love,

Cat

Day 26  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

Dear Friends,

Here’s a quote from Etty Hillesum, a Jewish woman whose diary was written during World War II while the Germans occupied Amsterdam:

“I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one’s inner life.  And that, too, is a deed.”

Do you agree?  Not agree?  If you agree, would you say it is a “deed”?  Indeed!

Do you mold your inner life?  How? Can you bear witness to what Etty is talking about in some sort of image or color?

With love,

Cat

Day 25  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro pagehttp://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

Dear Friends,

How’s your November going?  I often think of November as just like February, only worse.  In February, it’s often miserable out, but there’s only about a year until it gets warmer; in November, you know it’s going to be at least 3 years before the weather gets better. . .

Does the upcoming winter speak to you of death?  Of rest?  Of hibernation?  Of loss of color in the world? Of increased activity due to the school year?  What’s your soul’s response to November?  Write about it, or image it with color  (or not. . .  black and white comes to mind.  Though if I add red to the black and white I have the three colors of alchemical transformation. . . . )

With love,

Cat

Day 24  of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro page http://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

Dear Friends,

If you can, have a Day of Rest today.  If you can’t, try to figure out when you can, and put it on the calendar.

What I suggest for today is to learn a little bit of something from a spiritual tradition that is different from either what you practice now, or when you were a child.  The history of the human race is that of people who have tried to make sense of the “deep and real” in life, and there have been dozens of traditions that have something good in them that would be helpful to know about.

So I send you to an encyclopedia, or to a bookstore’s selection of books on religion, or to good ol’ Wikipedia:  learn something new about how somebody else tries to make sense of the big questions of life.

In your journal you can summarize what you’ve learned (written out on one of the great backgrounds you did yesterday), create a one-sentence “word of wisdom” that you want to remember, or draw a symbol from a new-to-you depth tradition.

May many blessings be visible today and always,

With love,

Cat

This is day 23 of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro page http://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.

Dear Friends,

Today, six weeks or so before Christmas, there are many craft and art sales in town.  There are also several events online that I don’t want to miss.  I’m sure it’s busy wherever you are, too.

So let’s make it easy and relaxing today.  Put on some of your favorite music, and paint a few backgrounds today so that they’re ready to house your written journalling.

I use either watercolors or cheap craft paint on journal pages.  Golden Fluid Acrylics are WONDERFUL  —– FOR CANVAS!  But I find that they are too sticky for journal pages that are closed most of the time, with page against page.  Get the paint that’s a dollar or two a bottle.  I put the paint on with either a wide brush or using an old plastic gift card.  Play around with brush or card strokes —- you’ll get various effects.  If using acrylics, squirt out a couple of drops of two or three colors and see how they swirl together.

The effect above is the result of a light pink/lavender background.  I let it dry, then put down a stencil of the circles and painted over it with the darker violet.  I also did a little doodle in the middle.

However you do your backgrounds, either leave a clear space for writing, or keep the background muted enough so that you can see your writing over the background.  I particularly like to do that; when I write in black ink on the above page, you won’t immediately see the individual words.  It will be somewhat hard to read.  But I like that, because it encourages me to let friends page through my books knowing that they won’t be able to read too many of my private thoughts unless they really get to studying the book.  It doesn’t guarantee privacy, but invites it.

Have fun and relax with this.  No words today.

With love,

Cat

This is day 22 of a series of daily prompts for written, visual, or art journalling, or just for pondering.  For more background information, see the Intro page http://catcharissage.com/2014/10/29/announcing-sixty-days-of-visual-journalling-prompts/, or this post on visual journalling: http://catcharissage.com/2014/07/12/talking-about-journals/.