the simple stories~

(*hungry for color* collection 2o11)

Do you like having a daily creative project?

Do you like the daily discipline of having to show up and do...or does that consistency derail your creative stride?

I think I like it.  I always have something planned- it must be how I live my life?

Right now I am focused on putting words + images + art together to create a visual way to tell stories of my life/our lives.  As the mental gymnastics roll in my head about what today's project will be, I keep focused on the forward momentum and try to not get pulled away in every direction.   I know that wrapping myself up in a daily project produces good material, it always does, the daily-hard-work always makes a difference.  The inner critic can't keep up with such a high product load - she goes silent.  And that is bliss~

(*kitty & friends* collection 2o11)

With writing everyday, I am realizing that I have gotten far better at story telling - my own stories - and it got me thinking back on a list I had made.  A couple of years ago, I enrolled in an online class called Yesterday & Today.  For me it was an intense class of introspection and writing - I loved it.  One of the best exercises in the material (for me) was the introduction of a very minimalistic approach to memory keeping ~ the idea of telling twelve stories.

It was that uncomplicated.  The idea of documenting life in twelve simple stories.  If you had to make the hard decision that you only had the ability, the means, the time, the whatever,  to share the life stories you wanted to tell, and you could only tell twelve...which would you choose?

In my span of forty-one years, what twelve stories do I want/need to tell?

In your present place, in your challenges and joys, what significant stories do you need/want to tell?

(*early morning birds* collection 2o11)

To be honest I let the stories roll around in my heart and head for awhile before I made my list.  I also found *my original 12 list* last night and made some focused changes- making the stories much more simple and succinct.  I think it is liberating for a girl like me that loves to document life~ that it can be simple.  It can be this simple.  

So my question is, can life actually be summed up in twelve chapters, novellas, poems, notes-to-self, or even blog posts?

What do you think?  Where would you begin?

(the kitty picture is of her looking out at four deer in our backyard last night - what does she think of that?)

grace & peace,
jj