angels are everywhere

Posted on by stargardener
my blurts + art by amazing Maira Kalman from Principles of Uncertainty

“Death spreads all over our lives and therefore faith must be given to see through the darkness, to see through the beauty of the ‘valley of the shadow of death.'” -Makoto Fujimura

July focus: living our questions [in-full + without apology] and [with intention and wonder]—amidst our challenges and from the perspective of both being [in-flow] and [mull] … processing, by-faith. 📿

🔁➡️ To be in flow and mull is an 💌 invitation to both live our fullness and our questions and what-if’s—but from the perspective of both [in-flow] and [mull] (ponder; think about).

Art is expression; it comforts us in the midst of our suffering, and it helps us to dream of new outcomes and tell our stories + it heals us of our hidden ❤️‍🩹 wounds.

I crossed over a threshold 🚪✨ this past week. And it happened 💯 because of my daily creative practices: right brain planning (journal + planning what matters most to me) + ICAD.

“‘Who am I,’ is a more important question to ask than ‘What should I do with my life?'” -Parker J. Palmer

My current 100-Day Project for pondering + writing in my journal is exploring who I am + what I need for my life in the context of [benevolence, wonder and meaning]. 💖

Creativity + community may not change whatever challenges or suffering we may be experiencing—BUT the combination of creativity + community definitely makes life more doable 😉 (and “funner”). 🤭🤹‍♀️🤸🧙‍♀️🛝🎢

  • I decided to do the ICAD Creative Challenge for June and July as a way of giving myself a daily focal point, something that is doable + tangible—and helps me to get started on the “swirly” 🌀 days.
    • 🤹‍♀️🎉 I started by adding song 🎶 lyrics atop collaged index cards as a way of having a tangible record of my “summer sojourn playlist.”
    • There has been some “shape-shifting” 😊 but I am trusting my pace and energies as I remind myself slow is fast enough (and that I had three different surgical procedures in a month’s time).
      • Always reminding myself that my main intention with my ICAD cards is having a starting point. 😊 No rules, just making. ✂️✏️🖍️🖌️
This has been like a mantra for me during the past few months.

The past three months almost broke me BUT creativity saved me. It has helped me to pause and regain a focus of [benevolence, wonder, meaning].

My story-unfolding is one of freedom but also a long-awaited healing (in spite of my current health challenges).

My experiences, my choices and the people who have chosen to come alongside have allowed me to see 🪽 “angels” and the 💎 jewel I am carry …

  • My 💎 jewel has facets cut over time with the help of kindred relationships, benevolence, wonder and finding meaning.
    • This summer has included remembering the women I shared friendship with because of ovarian cancer. 💗 It has been healing and strengthening to recall their love for me, and the strength they imparted.
  • Again remembering, angels are 🪽 everywhere. 🌈Those women are no longer Earth-side, they all “moved on” within a period of four years after we met in a support group. BUT I can still feel their presence and I am reminded of their love and strength in so-o many different ways. ✨

What does this have to do with right brain planning?

🎁 Every day is a gift. Simple chronicles of the details (thoughts, events and emotions) of our days is a way to cope + know ourselves + map 🗺️ our ❤️ desires.

📊 Tracking (and reviewing) our 💭 thoughts and routine activities [along with whatever has our ⚠️ attention] reveals our beliefs and values—and helps us to discover meaning and the details of our ♻️ rhythms.

Showing up for ourselves on the 📄 page—along with setting aside ⏰ time and space on a regular basis for both tangible and intangible processing is how we come to identify our desires + get 🔎 clarity.

  • Everything is an opportunity. ❤️ Everything we have experienced, lived and loved, questioned and lost is a part of our wholeness.
  • Right brain planning is a practice that invites us to devote ⏰ time and 🔎 attention to expression and a dated chronicle of our personal data (highs, lows and in-betweens) to assist us in our ongoingness.
    • This includes notes from slow-reading books about creativity, self-discovery and healing.

And, Braveheart, there is enough time and space and energy for our dreams and desires, wishes and want-to’s, and our ❤️‍🩹 healing (even when we doubt all of that).

Our dreams take time. Without some type of visual chronicle to serve as a “map”—as well as a reminder and directive—the timelines of our desires and experiences become jumbled. What matters most becomes ignored and forgotten.

“I’ve learned to trust the altered states, agitations, energies, symptoms and moods that come from seemingly nowhere. They’re portals to the soul. Enter and heal, create, flow in ways the mind can’t yet see or know.” -McCall Erickson

🔎 Benevolence, Wonder and Meaning. ➡️➡️➡️ These three elements are the focus of my 100-day project as well as the resources (art + prompts and guiding content) I will be sharing with my Ko-fi patrons.

If a 100-day project sounds interesting and something you would like to try, please know this can be something very simple like daily doodles or tiny-collage in a monthly calendar grid, a 5-minute walk* … or filling in a circle with doodles to literally mark your days. ⬇️

[free download]

*”Walking is how your body processes what your mind cannot hold.” -Dr. Nicole LePera

Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart. 💗

I appreciate your interest and support.

~love & good wishes~

⭐️ I am an artist and curator; I am one who communicates with color, found words and collage, inky marks and doodles as I cycle like the moon (as my calendar), chronicling oracles and abiding with the sky as a meditation.

⭐️ I host creative communities, safe spaces for gathering and sharing. I choose love and creativity for coping with the ongoing challenges of this world and I go to work—not because everything is fine but because I believe art heals.

❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators! 🎉 For almost 20 years I have had the privilege of sharing my art and writing about right brain planning while also hosting kindred 👭🏽💞👭 communities. ✨ I consider it an absolute 🤸 delight to continue this portion of my creative 📝🖌️✂️🫧 work (even as I retire from full-time work).

  • This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. (Thank you!) 💗 But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and paid subscriptions). 🫶
  • 💁🏻‍♀️ Other ways to support my work: ❤️ continue to read this blog + follow me on Instagram. 📲

If you already have your own system of creative journal-planning, but are interested in financially supporting my creative work, you may do so by making a donation:

  • Make a one-time contribution in any amount via [this link]. (Thank you!) ❤️