Self Scrapbooking: Purchases

THE TOPIC | Purchase

THE WRITING PROMPT | Hello money. Did you buy anything today? Do you budget? How do you feel about your overall financial situation? Are you a saver or a spender? What's your favorite thing to spend money on?

GO DEEPER | What did you learn about money growing up? Were your parents responsible or irresponsible about money? How has that impacted how you approach finances as an adult?

Remember, tell me more.

WRITING TIP | Money tends to be a sensitive issue for most people whether you have it or you don't. I found this prompt to be one of the most interesting for me personally. Finances have been very much on my mind and heart these last few months through the divorce process. Taking the time to sit and write about it (some of which I chose not to include here) actually gave me a new perspective, a sense of control, and even a bit of calm.

When approaching a sensitive topic I find it helpful to bounce back and forth between facts and feelings. Those two ideas have continually been my go-to in writing. I come back to them again and again as I figure out how to express myself through my words.

THE PHOTO | Your purse or wallet, shopping bags, the place where you write your checks, a coin jar or piggy bank.

Self Scrapbooking: Transportation

THE TOPIC | Transportation THE WRITING PROMPT | How do you get from place to place? Do you drive, walk, or ride? What's your preferred mode? Car, train, plane, bike, bus. GO DEEPER | Consider detailing the history of your cars. What was your first car and are there any special or specific memories that go along with that car? What do you remember about it most? Remember, tell me more. THE PHOTO | A detail shot of your current car. An older photo, maybe of you with a car from your past. The road. The sidewalk (looking down as you walk). A road sign or train schedule or bike lane.

New Moon in Cancer

The New Moon for July finds itself positioned in the sign of Cancer, which is a water sign that holds feminine energy. Cancer represents the Mother...the nurturer...and it seems appropriate that this New Moon is a time to look inward with empathy so we can nurture ourselves and grow on our paths.

Emotions are running high in both familial patterns and society at large...therefore it so very important that we maintain being grounded and balanced in our hearts and our minds. If you find that your mind just won't settle down...commit to a practice that calms and centers you such as meditation, yoga, or walking in nature. The time has come for us to stop talking about our intentions in this area...and to start the practice...no exceptions! We have got to find that "thing" that stops our negative and worrisome thought processes and brings us back to our heart space...where we can quiet ourselves...and then choose to move forward from a place of love and one that is absent of fear.

This New Moon is the perfect time to be pro-active in directing your nurturing energy in a way that is honoring of you and helps you to create your true heart's desire. It is time to seriously consider the path we are headed down in all aspects of our lives...and to commit to releasing the old ways of being that have kept us locked in fear, negativity, and isolation. I encourage you to get in touch with your feminine side...dig deep...discover what is in need of mothering or tending in your soul. The deeper you are able to go...the more love you will be able to allow to flow into your spirit.

 Engage your mind and your heart as you set your intentions for wholeness, healing, and authenticity for the next 28 days.   Open to the possibilities that come your way, and sit with things before making snap judgments or decisions. The truth is that we MUST take action to heal our hearts and our broken, worn out ways of being and doing in this world or we are going to be left behind.

Every New Moon provides us with an opportunity for new beginnings...tapping into both your heart and your mind...set your intentions around these specific Moon qualities: belonging, awakening, flow, Divine guidance, ease, grace, and forgiveness.

Because Wednesday is the New Moon...this means that Tuesday is a banishing day. Banishing Days proceed each New Moon and provide us with the opportunity to mindfully and ceremoniously 'ban' ourselves from those things that no longer serve us on our paths towards wholeness, healing, and authenticity. Make a list of the thoughts, attitudes, actions, and ways of being you wish to cease engaging in...and then with great intent and mindfulness burn this list.

I truly hope that each of you is able to find a "practice" that helps to quiet your mind and center you in your heart space!

Dozen Day: July

Dozen Day!!!  Hope you are ready for some inspiritation

Photos

1. SOmething in Motion
2. Sweet
3. Words
4. Refresshing
5. Summer Shoes
6. Seasonal Fruit
7. Inside of something
8. Something White
9. Nature
10. Your keys
11. Parts of pieces
12. Entertainment

Scrapbook Layouts:

1. You:  How have you changed?  What do you wnat to Change?
2. Holiday:  Christmas in July
3. Places:  Tell the story of a place within a place
4. Everyday Life:  What is happening right now? Right this minute
5. Rituals:  What do you do every Summer?
6. People:  Cousins
7. Inspiration:  Movie or TV show
8. Personality:  Describe why you like the person you love
9. Things:  Make your favorite recipe.  Document it from start to finish
10. Family Stories:  Scrapbook the story of how you meet your significant other
11. Seasons:  What is your busy season? Is it always that way? Can you change it? Would you?
12. Fun:  Learn a new technique and demonstrate it on your page

Self Scrapbooking: WOrk

THE TOPIC | Work

THE WRITING PROMPT | What sort of work do you do? At home? At an office? On the road? What's your favorite part and your least favorite part? Does your workday end at 5pm or are you always working? Do you love it or is it a necessary evil? If you are a stay-at-home-Mom (which I completely consider to be "work") write about the different tasks you do over the course of a day as part of your working life.

GO DEEPER | As a child, what sort of work did you imagine you'd do as an adult? If it's different than your childhood dreams, why? How do you feel about that?

Remember, tell me more.

THE PHOTO | Your desk, you in action doing the work that you do, the work you'd like to be doing.

CIrcling Back by Ali Edwards

Be the person who circles back."

This is actually something I want to focus on a bit more with my own personal creative journey. How often do you "get on with it" related to your creative passions?

I'm about ready to do some serious circling back to making scrapbook layouts regularly again. I'm ready. I'm excited. I have stuff to say. I have ideas jotted down. I have creative energy pulsing through my veins.

The outcome will be an evolution of the pages and projects from my past but at the core it will still be me, telling my stories and playing with words and photos and all the fun stuff that goes along with memory keeping.

We are products of all that we experience. Our creativity grows and expands and deepens as we journey through life. Circling back around, whether it's revisiting stories, techniques, places, songs, or our own work, is super valuable. It allows us to see how far we've come and often is an opportunity for new insights on where we are right now.

What can you circle back to this weekend?

Full Moon Failure by Christi Wich

Many of you may of have noticed that I failed to post on Wednesday regarding the Full Moon...I thought about it...lots...and then I decided to practice what I so often preach...and I decided to exercise a little self-care. This may not seem like a lot to you, but to me...this is HUGE. You see, I am one of those people that takes my responsibilities so seriously, that I often get mired down in all the things I need to do so that I don't let anyone down...and I forget to take care of me.

As I was driving to Chicago last Monday (to drop my daughter off at law school)...I was struggling with a long list of things I need to get done by the end of the month, and was working out in my head a schedule for squeezing in all my responsibilities. I had lost most of the week before because my Dad had spine surgery and I was in Denver helping out him and my mother...came home on Friday evening...spent Saturday cooking and cleaning for my daughter's "Going Away" barbeque that very night...spent Sunday here at the store organizing and leaving notes for those who would be working the following week...and then Monday we left for our 2 day drive to Chicago. The minute we arrived in Chicago, after 2 days of driving...we unpacked the Uhaul and then drove to Home Depot to get some paint and other household appliances to fix up my daughter's new room.

While standing on a ladder painting the room where she will reside for the next 3 years...I worked desperately to formulate a post for the next evenings Full Moon. I went over and over in my head about the trying energies swirling around in the world...the stress inducing impact these energies are exerting on mankind...and our desperate need to practice and extend love in all forms. Try as I might I could not come up with anything to write...how could I when I was so deeply ensconced in my own sadness at knowing that I would soon be leaving my daughter in the Big City some 1100 miles away from home? Mourning my role as her mother...excited for her to take the next steps in pursuing her dream...realizing that things would now be forever different in our relationship...oscillating from being mad at myself for expressing my need for her to fly and move forward in her life these past 6 months...to now knowing that I will miss her terribly as she takes on her new and exciting life.

Try as I might...I simply could not come up with anything to write...and the more I tried to formulate a post...the madder I became with myself...and the more profoundly I felt the weight of my responsibilities. People depend on me...people count on me to be timely with my posts and mindful of the words I write...People need me to be positive and uplifting...helping to formulate struggles into a journey...and life lessons as celebrations of growth...how then could I do this...when I, was sitting here on the floor at midnight painting a room, after 2 days of driving, mourning the leaving of my daughter???

And then it came to me...you don't...you don't write and you don't stress yourself out right here, right now in this trying and emotional time in your life...the best message you can communicate to those whom read these posts is the message of self-love...of self care...and you do that by practicing what you preach and you extend as much love and compassion to your self as you would encourage any woman in your stead to do...and you know what...I did...

I acknowledged my dry reservoir...I acknowledged my mixed-emotions...and I acknowledged my need to spend some time caring for myself...even if that only meant that I was to be mindful of my state of mind and the myriad of items on my "plate" and just sit with all the emotions, thoughts, and feelings that were present in my being at this time and place...and you know what? It felt good...not in the celebratory lets throw a party sort of way-but rather, in the quiet, peaceful, grounding sort of way. I stopped worrying, I put fear at bay...and was able to be fully present to myself, my daughter, and our last few days together.

And so...this is what I would say to all of you...sometimes we get so caught up in all the things on our "plates"...all the should's and need to's...that we forget the most important need to of all...the necessity of caring for our selves. As women, we are often our worst critics and measure our worth and our value by what we do and give to others. Trust me...I GET THIS! I am the Queen of "doing"...but I realize that in order to live a life that is honoring of Me...I need to practice the art of "being".

When I am in my "being" mode...I never put more into my day than my day will hold...and when I have intense emotions arise...such as sadness, anger, or anxiety...I am able to sit with these emotions and allow myself to fully express them...and it is in this "being" that I am able to feel and then release...being fully present to myself...those around me...and the events at hand. I truly feel that it is our soul's duty to learn how to be fully present, loving, and compassionate to ourselves...because once we learn the art of self care...we no longer need to look outside of ourselves for peace, love, or fulfillment...and once we can stop looking to others to fill our 'tanks'...we can then extend love and compassion out into the world.

I want to close with a quote I came across a couple of months ago...forgive me, but I do not know who authored it: "the soul always knows what to do to heal itself, the challenge is to silence the mind".


By Christi Wich

Self Scrapbooking: You Right Now

THE TOPIC | You

THE WRITING PROMPT | What's happening with you in your life right now? What's the best and what's the worst? Consider writing up a list that's 10 Things about you today (or at this point in time in your life). Here's a list of 10 Things you could respond to (feel free to add or subtract to make it gel with what you really want to say).

1. Age:
2. Favorite part of my day:
3. Loving:
4. Longing for:
5. Inspired by:
6. Dreaming of:
7. Needing:
8. Navigating:
9. Struggling with:
10. Knowing:

Today's prompt is a great opportunity to be really honest and direct with where you are in your life right now. It's the kind of prompt that can be repeated periodically and the answers will often include some of the same responses and many new ones.

WRITING TIP | Sometimes when presented with simple prompts like this it's easy to respond quickly just to get it done. I'd encourage you to let this one sit a bit or start it and then come back to it later in the day (or a few days from now). What's missing? What can you add that tells a more complete story?

Remember, tell me more.

Project: A Thank You Quilt

This week, I am in Hilton Head, SOuth Carolina.  My brother Steve and his family are hosting the Ross Family Reunion.  It is the first time in 32 years, that my brothers and I have sat down, at the same table, all at the same time.  

This is my Host gift for Steve. 

The 4th of July has always been a big celebration while growing up, and still is.  There was always one or more of the 6 of us involved in our home town parade, or  in the activities that our Town produced to celebrate the 4th of July.    So I created a quilt of Homes and stars.  A little Patriotic with the flag style houses and stars. 

Full Moon in Capricorn by Christi Wich

Tomorrow, Tuesday July 3rd is the Full Moon in Capricorn. With each Full Moon we are being asked to stretch and outwardly commit to the dynamic of each specific moon's qualities. Its a time for aligning with our inner selves and the authentic expression of our true Soul's purpose by outwardly affirming our intentions.

This Full Moon finds us entering the sign of Capricorn, an earth sign of the father who initiates us into the gateway of spiritual consciousness and our contribution in the world...along with the sun sign of Cancer and the mother who births us into the gateway of consciousness in form.

What does this mean...it means that we need to embody balance...in all ways and areas of our lives. For too long we have been living our lives in ways that honor the masculine characteristics of doing...while denying the feminine side of ourselves that is aligned with being. While, the Full Moon encourages us to embrace the outward (masculine) manifestation of our heart's desires that are aligned with its energies...we are also being encouraged to balance this with the feminine way of being. I would ask if you are living your life in a way that honors your authentic hearfelt desires and gifts? If not...this Full Moon is demanding that we take action (masculine) now to find a way of being in this world that honors our heartfelt desires (feminine).

This means that it is time for us to move away from old concepts, traditions, stereotypes, and beliefs that keep us locked in unhealthy behaviors and patterns and instead open ourselves to new ways of thinking and doing. What needs to be actively shed from your life? What needs to be embraced so that you can move forward on your path towards wholeness, healing, and authenticity?

Many people are feeling increased levels of anxiety and depression at this time. Anxiety and depression are signs that we are not paying attention to our true hearts desires...and this keeps us from living out and aligning with our Soul purpose. Whenever feelings of unease or anxiety arise for me...I try to sit with these feelings and figure out what emotion it is that I am trying to avoid...avoidance keeps us locked in the old way of doing and being....avoidance aligns us with fear and keeps us from embracing love...

The energies of this Full Moon and the alignment of the planets are shaking things up for everyone in both familial and societal ways. Anything that is not built on love and truth is quickly dissolving. Keep this in mind when dealing with others this week, especially in family situations or gatherings. If something comes up that pushes your buttons or causes you great anxiety...focus on not reacting...instead work on staying grounded and centered...extend kindness and love to yourself...and then extend this love and kindness outward. Allow yourself to be fully present to the emotions that arise and pay attention to the messages in those emotions...open to what lesson needs to be embraced and then released...so that you can move forward in a new and honoring way.

By committing to staying grounded...we are able to balance ourselves both internally and externally...and can better choose to react in a way that is honoring of everyone involved...and thus raising the vibrational energy of the earth...where love can flow freely.

The specific energies associated with this Full Moon in Capricorn are: culminating purpose, commitment, focus, manifestation, accomplishments, and new beginnings. What outward actions are you going to take to move you towards your true heart's desire and the expression of your Soul purpose?