I keep trying to be a better blogger, but at the very least, I keep showing up, right?
I have found a few new things that have kept me off of social media and I am completely ok with this because social media can be such a mindless time suck that really doesn't produce much other than a sense of not being able to keep up with people who seem to be able to do it all. A wonderful life, amazing talent, beautiful pictures, etc. I know I am not the only person who feels that sense of "less". I'm not sure that "less" is the right word...but still I'm sure many of you understand what I mean.
I recently stumbled upon this Zinnia app on Instagram (social media ,ironic right?). I signed up for the trial but forgot to cancel it before I was charged for the full year, which is 34.00, so I figured if I paid for the App, I was going to learn how to make it work for me.
Well let me tell you, it can be a deep rabbit hole when you start looking at all of the ways you can customize it. It is so much fun creating for a month. It can be journal, tracker or a planner or all wrapped into one. So far I have not regretted that 34.00 for a year.
Here are a few links to some of the videos I have enjoyed.
https://youtu.be/-jt83Gkj-3w
https://youtu.be/0ubeqFP2WmY
Karin also has so many videos on Procreate which is another amazing app. I am learning so much from her. Along with digital watercolor art, I am learning lettering as well on practice sheets similar to when I was in the second grade!
It's the first time I have truly been excited about journaling, tracking habits, spending and joy.
I love it!
Another thing I did was to step out of my comfort zone and join a book club that included a Zoom meeting once a month. After a year of being confined so much due to the Pandemic, I was ready to reach out and be a part of something.
Sandy Hurley an old time fiber friend along with familiar friends, Norma Miller and Teresa Campbell made it an easy place to step into, even though I was nervous.
Social Anxiety, it's a real thing....
I so enjoyed my first Zoom meeting with them!
Our first book for me with them, was Maid. It was an interesting read, but I think we all came away from the book with a similar sentiment. Maybe not very well written, maybe not a likable character and a sense of sadness that people live in this kind of poverty lacking the ability to find their way out of this poverty.
I am looking forward to the next book and actually listening to it instead of reading it. This is a first for me and I'm not every sure how to do this, but I have a sweater that needs to be finished soon, so I thought that this might be a good way to do both!
Hopefully I can figure it out..ha!
I am also reading another book with different group of my favorite people as well, and we will have our discussion about the book, "Matrix", soon as well.
It feels nice to be doing things with friends instead of the solitary life I have lived over the last few years and reading new books I probably never would have chosen.
New experiences!
....and finally, I move on to something that gives me so much joy.
Beach stones..
I have long collected stones from the ocean and beaches for as long as I can remember. When we first started staying on Cape Cod, I started off dating each rock that I collected and where it came from, until finally there were just too many beautiful rocks in the bowl to keep up with.
Ken shakes his head at the number of rocks I bring home with me, but I love that he indulges me in this thing that gives me joy. Seriously I have bowls and bowls full, but any rocks that I don't love once they have dried, go back to the beach I collected it from to spend it's life where it came from.
Recently, I met a woman who nurtured a new sense of creativity with my rocks and with her amazing generosity, she gave me the tools and knowledge to be creative with them.
Look in this space in a few weeks to see what these precious to me rocks will become.
I know it's been a little while, but now you know why I have been a bit quiet.
I have SO many creative ideas floating around in my head!
I just need to catch them and focus all that "Sparkling Energy!"
❤️