Starting Your Own Wellness Journal 1

When visiting a friend recently, she gave me a very pretty notebook. I immediately knew that I would be using it for journaling and writing. As my friend was going through a tough time, having lost her husband to cancer a few weeks before, I naturally steered towards creating a wellness journal, realizing once again how important it was that we should all work hard at finding the right words to express our feelings in order to deal with our emotions. I decided to share the journey with you, hoping that someone will benefit from the ideas contained in it.

My friend gave me this journal as a gift and this is what inspired me.

I started by writing a poem about the things that were heavy on my mind. Even though this was not my tragedy, it was still a tragedy I needed to deal with as I became entangled in it through my friend. It is extremely important that we find words to deal with the issues we confronted with so that we can find a way  to come to terms with it.When writing a poem, you may want to use a pencil until you get the draft just right. I'll share my poem, titled A Time To Grieve, with you:

There is a pain that transcends thinking,
is not limited by understanding,
and refuses to be captured in words.

The soul has a space that embraces anguish,
where sadness is caressed and nurtured,
where grief sprouts beds of blooms.

And when pain, sadness, anguish and grief reaches maturity,
the heart opens up and gushes out its sorrow,
bleeding tears down stricken faces.

It bleeds again and again, over and over,
everyday anew as if for the first time,
until one day, finally, it is cleansed.

On that day the heart's wounds start closing,
It accepts, restores and heals, albeit gradually,
until at last the heart fondly cherishes memories.

Miekie

Once you have written the words, it may lead you to the picture you want to add to it. Sometimes, though, I find the picture first and that guides me towards finding the right words.

I liked the idea of drawing a 'wreath' around my poem as I found it fitting for my topic.

I used Derwent Graphitint for my drawings. This is a watersoluble pencil which made it possible for me to paint the drawing with water afterwards.

First, I would need to rewrite the final draft of the poem in pen. The brilliance of art journals is that they invite you to use as many colours as your heart desires.

I rewrote the poem in a colour matching the leaves on my wreath.

The title and my signature was written in blue. You may want to use even more colours than I did.

I could now erase the pencil draft.

I then painted the drawings with water.

The brush I used has a reservoir for the water which makes it very convenient to use.

I still advise using a high quality brush like Pentel. This cheaper version 'bled' water, soaking my drawing in unwanted places.

By the time I was done with this page,  I was feeling a whole lot better and could return to bed to catch up on much needed sleep, after tossing and turning earlier in the evening.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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