I just finished the "33 Journal" that I made for myself and here it is...ready and waiting to hold all the juicy new beginnings of this 33rd year of my life. My birthday was nearly a month ago and New Years was almost a week ago...still, there is something perfect about the timing of this journal and I look forward to recording my daily journey onto the hodge-podge of paper that I've bound together.





How is it that the month of January is already flying past me at, what feels like, warp speed. Ah well, this time I am not complaining as these past five days have been filled lots of inspired and interesting thoughts.

One thing I've been meaning to blog about is Leah's Creative Every Day 2008. I've been so busy working towards my goals that I keep momentarily forgetting that I decided to join in. But please don't be offended, Leah--because what amazes me the most is the way that creativity has so solidly rooted itself in my day to day life. It happens without me even having to consciously think about it. And that feels really good.

The cool thing about Creative Every Day 2008 is that I feel absolutely no pressure to do anything more than I'm inspired to do. Despite finishing my thesis, it turns out that my life is still busy (ha! Should I be surprised?). But this busy-ness is different. Although writing my thesis was creative, personal, and helped to heal some very deep wounds, it was something that just needed to get done. On one level I was doing it for myself, but on another level it was/is for someone else. It is a hoop to jump. But these days...oh, everything else is so different. My thoughts and endeavors are so full of potential and change. They are so me--as though a culmination of my entire life up until now. These thoughts are thrilling and dramatic and wonderful.

Sometimes I worry that I am setting myself up for failure and that it my ideas are ridiculous and blah, blah, blah... But then there's this other side of me, a much larger side, that is amazed by the way the puzzle pieces of my life are starting to fall into place.

I want to live an authentic life. Note to self: this is what it looks like:






































Photos:
*upper left hand: A wonderful Christmas gift of words and color from a wonderful friend, Mardagourrl
*lower left hand: Time spent my best friend in the whole wild world with her beautiful new baby boy, Elias. I'm smitten. ;)
*upper right hand: New Year's Day spent relaxing in front of the fire with a cup of tea, a good book, and my four-leggeds.