The Magic of the Art Journal

I experienced the "magic" of the art journal over the past year or so, as I was going through some of the darkest times of my life.  During a relative short period of time, several of my friends and relatives passed away, I was laid low with chronic illness which kept me from living the active life I love, and my marriage hit the rocks.  Add to this, my oldest son was diagnosed with an "unidentified" autoimmune disorder - one which was affecting his digestion, his skin, and causing him to lose his hair.  I am the kind of person who keeps stress bottled up inside, but this amount was just too much, and I slipped towards depression.  While seeking help for my stress, anxiety, and depression, I was introduced to art journaling.  And it changed my life!!  Never being one who was comfortable talking about her problems, I found an incredible freedom in expressing them on my art journal pages - using my own words, some chosen poems, and various items for collage that truly expressed how I felt.  The effects were amazing.  All that I had been keeping inside was finally let go - and I was free to find myself again.  To this day, I am still a faithful, DAILY journal keeper.  I start my morning with "morning" journal pages, and end my day with "evening" journal pages.  And, along the way, I also add art - in the form of collage, paint, oil pastel, etc. - any mixed media is represented in my journals.  Another major benefit of my journey into art journaling - I was able to find and release the artist within me.  I now set aside scheduled time during the day to work on other art projects as well.  It had been literally years and years since I had even sketched, and art journaling opened up my artistic self, once again allowing me the pure, simple joy of creating.  And quite often the process of creating will address issues in your life, past and present, that need "clearing" as well.  I cannot sing the praises of art journaling nearly enough.  As I develop this blog, I will share with you quotes, techniques, unique ideas, as well as pictures of my work.  It is my hope that you too will find your own personal journey of recovery here.

Embrace the creative life~

Rebecca