A Beautiful Ripple Effect

It all began with Start Here. And then Instruction Destruction. And then A “Perfect” Mess.

First, I must say yet again this journey is truly incredible. The community support and daily reminder to do something just for “fun,” are such treats. I look forward to continuing more creative adventures like this one. If you’ve never tried something like this, I highly suggest you jump outside your comfort zone and get started TODAY (yes all caps!).

This past week, I indulged in crayon therapy. I can’t remember the last time I used crayons. My incredible fiancé, Ben, bought me a special surprise – a jumbo package of 64 Crayons (even comes with a built-in sharpener). I mean that’s definitely a sign – he’s a keeper!

I think I may need to go back to preschool. I found so much enjoyment using my crayons!!

A few more pages that were wrecked since my last wrecking update…

I colored the entire page with a beautiful lilac crayon. Lilac happens to be my favorite color! I was going to doodle on the page, but decided to leave the crayon masterpiece simple – yet so very full of meaning.

This page was one of my favorites. I absolutely adore office supplies, especially colorful ones. My office is always full of color from Russell and Hazel. I created a border of pink tape around the page – pink office tape is too much fun! This is only the first “office supply” page – so be sure to check back for page 2!

The final page to share this week is one of my favorites, “Ask a friend to do something destructive to this page. Don’t Look.” Ben’s sister, Malka, took on the challenge and did an incredible job!

–> Ben took the picture. I wasn’t looking!!

What did I learn or realize from Week 4 of Wreck This Journal?

I realized why this journal is so important. Because the aim of the task is to literally “wreck this journal” through every method one can think of, the focus is not on the outcome. The outcome will be a wrecked journal. And I don’t think I know of anyone who has perfectly wrecked something – is that even possible? So while the activities may seem silly, that is just a disguise. The real joy in each page is to learn to focus on the process and not the outcome. Each page forces my mind to focus solely on the new and unique prompts. And then I just, “start,” and do what feels fun because the outcome is not what I’m after — I’m going for an incredible wrecking journey!

And now it’s on to week 5, Happy Wrecking!

It all began with Start Here. And then Instruction Destruction.

I had a feeling that the “coffee” page would be my favorite. I am a bit (okay — HUGE) of a caffeine addict! So of course I didn’t want to waste a drop of my beautiful cup of coffee, but I did — I needed to wreck my journal! I feel a little bit guilty that I had looked at other wreckers and saw the result of their “coffee” wreckage. It creates a mess! And I didn’t want that to happen — soo… I put a piece of card stock behind the page to protect leaking through to other pages. I also covered the area with newspaper to make sure nothing got ruined. Then I carefully used my straw to create a perfect mess with my last few drops of coffee. And it wasn’t much fun! I think the leaking and making a mess are required for the “fun.”

Note to self: create a mess!

But I had fun decorating the page with my coffee love! And then moved on to poking every inch of a journal page. Finally, I started drawing lots of fat and thin lines — but am still working on this little creation!

What did I learn or realize from Week 3 of Wreck This Journal?

I learned to “Draw Outside the Lines.” [See Daily Tip #18!]

On to week 4! Happy Wrecking!

–> Week 3, The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal

It all began with Start Here.

Last week was more difficult than most for me. I thought hard week > wreckage. Well, not the case! It seems that I LOVE to follow instructions and fit inside a neat little box when things start to go haywire. It was definitely a challenge to keep pushing forward with my wreckage… but I DID! I didn’t put the book away. I didn’t stop trying. Even though it was difficult, I kept going as hard as it was.

Writing is definitely a release for me — not drawing (wish it were!). So I did lots of writing in my journal and even began to burn a page until the smoke alarm looked as if it wanted to go off and make A LOT of people upset with me! So I had to hold it outside the window for a bit :). If any Bostonians saw someone hanging a book outside a window this morning — that would be me!

On to week 3! Happy Wrecking!

–> Week 2, The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal

One Book + One Blogging Adventure + One Daily Tip + One Quote

Today, with great hesitation, I took Wreck This Journal off of my bookshelf.

Over and over, I caught myself staring at the book on my desk and thinking, “Seriously, I’m going to do this? Now? I absolutely cannot.”

And then just a few minutes ago, I looked at the book again and noticed a small arrow at the bottom of the cover. I somehow completely missed it until now. The arrow contains two words: Start Here.

That little arrow served as a huge wake-up call. I realized that I never feel this internal resistance when working on a project that is tied to some sort of extrinsic expectation. And of course, the project is typically something I’m doing for someone else. Yet, a small personal project with no expectations but to color outside the lines and I am suddenly rationalizing why I can’t do “this,” now.

And now just a few minutes later, my whole perspective has changed. I am ready and excited to wreck my journal – for me. No expectations except one:

Each day, I must make the time to be creative and have fun. For me, this intention would be difficult to practice without some sort of trigger. At this point in time, I can’t just drop what I’m doing and “have fun” for five minutes – it would feel forced. The “Start Here” arrow will serve as my trigger to let go, explore, and just be me. Can I rationalize not doing this? No Way!

I am passionate and determined. I am going to Wreck This Journal!

Do you want to start here?

Each weekend (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), lets post what we did just for ourselves. I’ll post about my Wrecking and any wild realizations that happened during the week.

What will you do? Will you be wrecking your journal as well?

Okay… start here … NOW!

{Cover Image via Amazon}