Angela Hamilton
as you might’ve seen, i have a backlog of posts i want to share, including #yearonpaper entries. but i got stuck on where to go next, so i sort of avoided my journal for awhile. in forcing this entry, i landed on this phrase: be yourself. i realized that in very tiny ways, i haven’t been myself in a lot of instances lately. also, that i, in actuality, do in fact want to be myself. woah!
last week i wanted to experiment with my camera a bit and not wanting my notebooks and office goodies to be the subject of yet another impromptu photo shoot that i’d later lay on a splattering of blog and social media posts as if they were stock photos, i opted to do the same things with my plants. charity + i went to the DTLA flower market right after this little shoot. afterward, i had bouquets mixed in with these succulents and my little, partially munched on fern that was almost kitty lunch (thankfully not toxic). then came valentine’s day, when kevin stopped by the farmers market and picked out a couple spring bouquets that replaced all my dying market bits. i know having flowers is sometimes silly. if they’re not in the ground they certainly don’t last long, even shorter when i’m tending to them. but they sure do brighten up the place. we’ll call these little ones the survivors. even the fern. i’ve had them all month now (big feat, right?) and they persevere. and even though market flowers don’t stay in my life long, having a brighter, lighter space with them makes all the difference. [Read more…] about #yearonpaper | 04: positivity
i’m suffering through monday right now. it’s cold and windy and my to-do is mostly the anxiety inducing stuff i put off last month (making calls, health insurance, dealing with apartment maintenance people. basic adulting, ya know? i don’t like it, I DON’T!) so i’m avoiding it a little longer with today’s journal entry, about big ideas. the kind that take hold and motivate, and maybe even change things. when you basically have a thought like, “the world needs ___”, and just as quickly realize YOU can provide it. i had an idea like that recently, so i dedicated a few pages to working it out and giving it the time it deserved, whether or not i go for it in the end (though all signs say yes). [Read more…] about #yearonpaper | 03: big ideas
hope you got a chance to join me in journaling in 2016! last week i posted my first entry, on the topic of following your curiosity. if you want to receive those entries, prompts, and inspiration in an email each week (give or take), you can use the cute signup form below that jennifer of earl grey creative whipped up for me. she also wrote this great post on the blog market yesterday on finding the perfect workspace outside your home, which inspired me to make spaces the theme for today.
i’ve been talking about starting a new journal for what seems like months now (find the evidence here + here). usually when it’s a little slower in december i plan out my year (which i recently learned isn’t a very effective way to establish follow-through…more on that later) i should’ve taken this time to catch up on my side projects, like building an email list for #yearonpaper, but i decided to relax instead. i know. terrible! we went to san francisco + big sur for one weekend (photos soon) but you know what i did mostly during my small moments of relaxation? sat on the couch binge watching reruns. (could you tell?).
but it wasn’t all unproductive. no, i still haven’t got you all on an email or bugged all my real-life friends to join in (asking people to start journaling with you is apparently not all that normal), but one thing i did spend time with was elizabeth gilbert’s big magic after reading the review from my instagram friend, jaimie myers. like i said in this post on blog market, i took my time. between that and a post i read by made vibrant on following your curiosity, i felt like this topic would be a good way to kick off a year of journaling regardless of how prepared i am (or not) for this project and this year in general. [Read more…] about #yearonpaper | 01: following your curiosity
So I’ve had an idea to start a journaling community for a while now. Last week, I wrote out my tips for starting a daily practice of journaling and why I decided to change the way I journal. One thing I want to be more open to is sharing. Not sharing usually takes the pressure off, as I’m pretty private (believe it or not), but it’s not worth missing out on the community that forms when you share what you’re making. Not only do I want to create a space where that’s possible, but that we encourage each other to keep creating. I plan to set everything up for a successful community that shares via blogs + social so we can start the new year off with a fresh approach to creating. I think it will take me about 1000 blog posts to share all my feelings about this—there are SO many reasons why a different approach to the typical journaling practice will help me (and all of us) in our creativity, wellness, and even businesses—but let’s start with why. Why should you journal? It’s about more than simply having “someone” to talk to when our friends aren’t around. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons to Start a Journal (+ an announcement)
