Wednesday, 1 November 2017

Handmade Leather Journal 16 cm x 12 cm x 3 cm by Archan Knotz
My first handmade Leather bound Journal

Mental Health and journaling are going together, for me. So, I decided to make my own. Some of the material used was in it's previous life a blouse, or just a piece of paper but stitched and decorated with intention it becomes something very personal. 

In the last couple of days I was struggling to connect with myself, lots on my mind. My journaling became a list of what I did, or how amazing the weather has been in Nova Scotia, it doesn't matter, anything goes. I will settle in and connect with a deeper inside again. To quote a friend, "it keeps my hand moving" (n.s.)

I draw, press or glue things in my journal, anything that speaks to me and supports my connection to more meaningful things in my life. 

What makes journaling worthwhile for me is, that it is about me, my thoughts about a book, music, visit, person, adventure, situation.....my thoughts are important to me. 
Writing in my journal, slows the world down, gives me a different perspective, helps me understand.
Some people call journaling a - Brain dump-, I like it, that is how it feel a lot of the time. 

Creating space in the brain, letting go of old thoughts and creating space for new once. 

I create in one of my journals new stories for my life, new possibilities and in the other I write about my inner voices that keep me back from this new journey.
   
Amazing work! Congratulation to all of you who are doing this challenging work of self-care!

Paper cover Journals by Archan Knotz
  

1 comment:

Pandemonium Ministry of Culture said...

Lovely work! I think it is a great and wise thing to create these special repositories for your ideas and reflections on your journey. It creates the right space for listening to yourself and the right emphasis of respect and caring. Good luck with always finding the right words for capturing true honesty. And don't forget the sketch book. It is not just what we think as artists which can lead us to better interaction with the world. Learning how we see the world by capturing what and how we see it, and being brave enough to reveal it to ourselves in sketchbooks, is equally as powerful as capturing words.
Bonne journée!

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