Melancholy Monday – Journal It Out

You can’t wave a magic wand and make the world go away but there is a way to express at least some of what you’re feeling on any given day. You can journal it out. One of Webster’s definitions of “melancholy” is “a pensive mood” and that’s exactly how I felt when I woke up this morning – pensive.  Not depressed or anxious … just reflective. It seems that so many of my friends and family – including mine – are facing serious, tough, and very emotional challenges right now. Not sure what the future will bring … trying to figure out the right thing to do – wanting to help, but unclear exactly how …. I suppose there is always someone, somewhere going through hard times. It’s just as you get older your field of vision widens and you become more aware of things outside your own box. And once your eyes are that wide open, it’s really hard to shut them again. See, I told you I was reflective today. I didn’t know when I woke up that I would have the urge to create, but when I saw Cilenia Curtis’s Case File template freebie “arts PLAY T4”, something about it called too me. Maybe it was the colors, maybe it was the smiling face of the young man in the page that inspired the template -the image is linked – I really don’t know. But I just had to journal it out. You can use a template such as this one as is – just drop in a photo and you’re good to go.  Or, you can use it as a starting point to create something new. I knew I wasn’t going to have a photograph on this page, so I removed that bit and replaced it with a silhouette from my stash of two people embracing.  I deliberately chose one that leaves it to the viewer to decide who the people are – it could be a husband and wife, a father and son – whatever. The point is that they are sharing a moment. The stitches and paper strip at the bottom didn’t really work for me, nor did the butterfly (but it’s a really cool butterfly!) but I really loved the “you and me,” tag, so left it right where it was – and repositioned the circle element over it. I removed the vertical stitches and notebook paper strips that were below the photo spot and flipped the other three paper strips on their sides. I used my own brushes to paint and grunge the strips up to look like torn papers. And then I repositioned the alphabet strip and added more of my own brushes and squiggles all over the page. As I was working, a song started to play in my head, so as a final touch, added some of the lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” because they real convey what I wanted to say. When I was done, my pensiveness had lifted some – because I had journaled it out! Which btw, proves the point that a misty morning doesn’t always signify a cloudy day!